A sequentially rotated RHCP stacked patch antenna array for INMARSAT-M land applications

This paper presents a novel wideband and high gain 4×4 microstrip patch antenna array with excellent circular polarization at L-band for the INMARSAT_M land applications. By making use of the electromagnetically coupled patch (EMCP) concept and employing sequential rotation technique, this array has an impedance bandwidth (input return loss <;-10 dB) greater than 25% and 0.5-dB axial ratio bandwidth greater than 10%; the antenna peak gain is around 16.7 dBi at center frequency. The top and bottom patches dimension, the thickness of air region between two layers, the spacing between elements and the corporate feed network are optimized for achieving broadband characteristics and compact construction.