Broad-band suspended probe-fed plate antenna with low cross-polarization levels

A new feeding scheme for enhancing the radiation performance of a suspended plate antenna with a broad bandwidth is presented experimentally. By means of a probe-fed half-wavelength strip, the high cross-polarization levels of the suspended plate antenna are suppressed effectively, which result mainly from the undesired excitation of higherorder modes. Measurements on the antenna with the proposed feeding structure have demonstrated the good performances with a high ratio of co- to cross-polarization levels and stable radiation patterns across a 20% bandwidth for VSWR<=2 : 1.