Antenna polarisation adjustment for microstrip patch antennas using parasitic elements

A novel and simple approach to adjust the polarisation properties of a microstrip patch antenna in the entire axial ratio (AR) range is proposed. The proposed antenna consists of a radiating patch and a parasitic strip separated into two parts, and the separated strip is placed at the outer perimeter of the patch for capacitive coupling. This structure enables the antenna to induce opposite-direction currents on the strip, which allows flexible polarisation adjustment by moving the separated positions of the strip. For evaluation, two antennas with linear and circular polarisations are fabricated, and their performance is measured in a full anechoic chamber. The results prove that the proposed approach is suitable for flexible AR adjustment without a significant degradation of the matching characteristics and the design complexity.