Low-Profile, Multi-Element, Miniaturized Monopole Antenna

Abstract

A low-profile, electrically small antenna with omnidirectional vertically polarized radiation similar to a short monopole antenna is presented. The antenna features less than lambda/40 dimension in height and lambda/10 or smaller in lateral dimension. The antenna is matched to a 50 Omega coaxial line without the need for external matching. The geometry of the antenna is derived from a quarter-wave transmission line resonator fed at an appropriate location to maximize current through the short-circuited end. To improve radiation from the vertical short-circuited pin, the geometry is further modified through superposition of additional resonators placed in a parallel arrangement. The lateral dimension of the antenna is miniaturized by meandering and turning the microstrip lines into form of a multi-arm spiral. The meandering between the short-circuited end and the feed point also facilitates the impedance matching. Through this technique, spurious horizontally polarized radiation is also minimized and a radiation pattern similar to a short dipole is achieved. The antenna is designed, fabricated and measured. Parametric studies are performed to explore further size reduction and performance improvements. Based on the studies, a dual-band antenna with enhanced gain is realized. The measurements verify that the proposed fabricated antennas feature excellent impedance match, omnidirectional radiation in the horizontal plane and low levels of cross-polarization.