Enhancing Circular Polarization Performance of Low-Profile Patch Antennas for Wearables Using Characteristic Mode Analysis

Zhensheng Chen, Xuezhi Zheng*, Chaoyun Song, Jiahao Zhang, Vladimir Volskiy, Yifan Li, Guy A. E. Vandenbosch*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

6 Citations (Scopus)
67 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

A wearable antenna functioning in the 2.4 GHz band for health monitoring and sensing is proposed. It is a circularly polarized (CP) patch antenna made from textiles. Despite its low profile (3.34 mm thickness, 0.027 λ0), an enhanced 3-dB axial ratio (AR) bandwidth is achieved by introducing slit-loaded parasitic elements on top of analysis and observations within the framework of Characteristic Mode Analysis (CMA). In detail, the parasitic elements introduce higher-order modes at high frequencies that may contribute to the 3-dB AR bandwidth enhancement. More importantly, additional slit loading is investigated to preserve the higher-order modes while relaxing strong capacitive coupling invoked by the low-profile structure and the parasitic elements. As a result, unlike conventional multilayer designs, a simple single-substrate, low-profile, and low-cost structure is achieved. While compared to traditional low-profile antennas, a significantly widened CP bandwidth is realized. These merits are important for the future massive application. The realized CP bandwidth is 2.2–2.54 GHz (14.3%), which is 3–5 times that of traditional low-profile designs (thickness < 4 mm, 0.04 λ0). A prototype was fabricated and measured with good results.

Original languageEnglish
Article number2474
JournalSensors
Volume23
Issue number5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 23 Feb 2023

Keywords

  • characteristic mode
  • low-profile
  • parasitic loading
  • slit loading
  • wearable antenna

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Analytical Chemistry
  • Information Systems
  • Biochemistry
  • Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
  • Instrumentation
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering

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