A 1-D circularly-polarised array designed with dual-flared microstrip slot antenna element

This paper describes the work done on the design of a 1-D array using the dual-flared microstrip slot antenna (DFMSA). Following up on earlier work, rectangular cavities without absorbers are now used to improve on the realised gain of a single element. The use of a rectangular cavity reduces its dimensions so it can be packed more closely in a 1-D array. In the 5.9 GHz-7.0 GHz band, the 1/spl times/8 element array has a radiation efficiency of about 75% and a realized gain of between 9.5 dBi and 12.5 dBi. Axial ratio is less than 3 dB in most cases. Such an array could find applications on airborne satellite based communication systems such as those found on commercial airliners.