Omnidirectional Circularly Polarized Antenna Utilizing Zeroth-Order Resonance of Epsilon Negative Transmission Line

The omnidirectional circularly polarized (CP) antenna using a circular mushroom structure with curved branches is proposed. The antenna is based on the zeroth-order resonance (ZOR) mode of epsilon negative (ENG) transmission line (TL) to obtain a vertical polarization and an omnidirectional radiation pattern. Also, the horizontal polarization is obtained by the curved branches. The 90° phase difference between two orthogonal polarizations is inherently provided by the zeroth-order resonator. Therefore, the antenna has an omnidirectional CP radiation pattern in the azimuthal plane. In addition, this antenna is planar type and simply designed without a dual feeding structure and 90° phase shifter. The measured average axial ratio and left-hand (LH) CP gain are 2.03 dB and - 0.40 dBic, respectively, in the azimuthal plane.