Bandwidth Enhancement of L-Probe Proximity-Fed

Annular Ring Microstrip Slot Antenna

A. K. Singh, (Research Scholar)
Electronics Engineering,
Indian School of Mines,
Dhanbad, India.
Email: anilei76@gmail.com.

Ravi Kumar Gangwar

Binod K. Kanaujia

Electronics Engineering,
Indian School of Mines,
Dhanbad, India.
Email: ravi8331@gmail.com

Electronics and Commn. Engg.,

AIACTR, Gita Colony,
Delhi, India
Email: bkkanaujia@yahoo.co.in

Abstract A parametric study and simulation of wide-band

orthogonally slit cut annular ring microstrip antenna (SCARMSA) fed by an L-shaped probe is investigated using Modal
expansion cavity model and circuit theory concept. The radiating
patch is located about 8mm (~0.1) above the ground plane. The
broadband characteristic of antenna is achieved by employing a
thick substrate (~0.1) of 1.07 relative permittivity (Rohacell
Foam). The annular ring patch is cut ortogonally with slot of
1mm width. The E- and H-plane radiation pattern are presented
and VSWR is compared with the simulated result. Good
agreement is obtained between computed and simulated results.
The effects of the geometric parameters of the L-strip like length
of the horizontal portion of the strip are investigated. An
impedance bandwidth of about 36.76% and 33.23% (VSWR < 2)
at 13.5 mm and 15 mm length of horizontal L-probe respectively.

Keywords- microstrip antenna; wide-band microstrip antenna; Lprobe proximity fed microstrip antenna; wireless communication;

I.

INTRODUCTION

With the definition and acceptance of the ultra wide-band

(UWB) impulse radio technology in the USA [1]. Recently,
the Federal Communication Commission (FCC)s allocation
of the frequency band 3.110.6 GHz for commercial use has
sparked attention on UWB antenna technology in the industry
and academia. Several antenna configurations have been
studied for UWB applications [24].
The impedance bandwidth of a microstrip antenna depends
primarily on both the thickness and the dielectric permittivity
of the substrate. A thick substrate with a low dielectric
permittivity can increase the bandwidth of the printed patch.
Both these selections could be a solution of the problem of
bandwidth enhancement[5]. Simultaneously these solution
pose difficulties in integration of the antenna with other
microwave circuits, and cause some other problems such as
the surface wave propagation and the large inductive image
part of the input impedance of the antenna, which makes its
resonance unfeasible. Thus, a reasonable thickness should be
considered in the selection of substrate and the bandwidth
would be enhanced using additional techniques. The most
common and effective of them are the loading of the surface
of the printed element with slots of appropriate shape.
The attractive features of annular ring microstrip antenna
motivated the investigators [6-12]. The annular ring
microstrip antenna is a popular antenna because of its small
dimensions compared to other microstrip antennas resonant at
the same frequency [13]. The L- probe proximity fed annular
ring microstrip antenna is simple in structure and have been

investigated [13-14] for various ultra wide-band system and

other communication systems. In this paper, the L-probe
proximity fed annular ring microstrip antenna with
orthogonally loading of the surface of the printed element with
slots is investigated using Modal expansion cavity model and
circuit theory concept. Characteristics including VSWR, and
radiation pattern are considered.
II.

THEORETICAL ANALYSIS

Geometry of the L-probe proximity fed annular ring

microstrip antenna with orthogonally slit loaded is shown
in Fig. 1. The broadband performance of the proposed antenna
is achieved by employing a thick substrate. In our design, a
Rohacell foam layer (r= 1.07) of thickness 8 mm is used to
support the radiating patch. Without L-probe, it is difficult to
couple the energy from the microstrip line to the patch as the
separation between them is too large. Therefore a step,
which is designated as an L-probe. The horizontal part of the
L-probe of y0 incorporated with the patch provides a
capacitance to suppress the inductance introduced by the
vertical part of the L-probe.

y0

top view

b a

ws
X

side view

h2
h1

Patch

Z
H
L-probe
Y
ground plane

Fig. 1. Geometry of L-probe proximity-fed annular ring microstrip antenna

with slit inserted.

The vertical part of L-probe is equivalent to a series

combination of resistance (Rs) and inductance (Ls). The
resistance Rs is because of finite conductivity of copper used.
The expression for the resistance Rs and inductance Ls are
given by [15]

 2 h1
L s = 0 . 2 h 2 ln
w s + t s

+ 0 . 2235

ws + ts
+ . 05 (nH) (1)

h2

R s = 4 .13 10 3 h 2

f / Cu

r +1

ws + t s

r 1

0 .5

12 H
(6)
1 +

W
2
2
where W=b-a, a and b is the inner and outer radius of the patch
antenna respectively. If le is the extension in effective length due
to fringing fields, then the fringing capacitance (Cf) can be
calculated as [15-16]
(7)
C f = l e e cZ 0
+

Fig. 2 represents the equivalent circuit of the L-probe

proximity fed microstrip antenna, due to L-probe, a series
combination of resistance (Rs), inductance (Ls) and capacitance
(Ctotal) in series with resonant element of patch as parallel
component R, L and C. Hence, the input impedance can be
given as

Z in = R s + j L s +

1
+ Z inp
j C total

(8)

where Ctotal is the equivalent capacitance because of

capacitances C1, Cs1, Cf1, and Cf2 and is given by [16]

C total =

(C1 + 2C f 2 ) (C s1 + C f 1 )
(C1 + 2C f 2 + C s1 + C f 1 )

(2)

where ws is the width of the L-probe in mm, ts is the thickness

of the prove in mm, h1 is the height of the vertical portion of
the L-probe, is the specific resistance of the strip (cm),
and cu is the specific resistance of the copper (1.7210610-6
cm). The horizontal portion of the L-probe and the patch are
perfect conductors separated by a finite distance (h2) which
provides a capacitance (C1) in series with vertical portion of
the L-probe and this can be calculated by
(3)
C1 = r 0 y 0 w s h2
where r is the relative permittivity of the material (Rohacell
foam), and 0 is the free space permittivity.
Also there is a parallel plate capacitance (Cs1) between
horizontal part of the L-probe and the ground plane and is
given by
(4)
C s1 = r 0 y 0 w s h1
The open end of the L-strip which is under the patch will
have fringing fields, which can be considered as a small
increase in the length of the L-strip. This will have an extra
capacitance (Cf). This effective increase in the length can be
calculated as [15-16]
w

0 . 412 h ( e + 0 . 3 ) s + 0 . 264
h

(5)
le =
ws

( e 0 .258 ) + 0 .8
h

e is the effective dielectric constant of the material and is

given by

e =

Cf2

(9)

Cf1
Rs

C1

Ls
Cs1

Cf2

Zin

Fig. 2. Equivalent circuit of L-probe proximity-fed annular ring microstrip

antenna.

and Zinp is the input impedance of resonant element of patch as

parallel component R, L and C is given by
(10)
1
Z inp =

III.

j C

j
1
+
R
L

DESIGN DETAILS

Design paramour of the proposed antenna is as shown in

table I.
TABLE I. DESIGN PARAMOUR OF THE PROPOSED ANTENNA
Parameter

Value

Inner radius of annular ring; a

17 mm

Outer radius of annular ring; b

8.5 mm

Substrate material used

Rohacell foam

Relative permittivity of Rohacell foam; r

1.07

Length of the vertical L-probe; h1

6 mm

Height of patch from horizontal L-probe; h2

2 mm

Height of patch from ground plane; H

8 mm

Width of the L-probe; ws

1 mm

Length of the horizontal L-probe; y0

15 mm

IV.

DISCUSSION OF RESULTS

Variation of VSWR with frequency for different length of

horizontal probe is plotted in Fig.3. The plot shows that the
VSWR<2 is in the frequency range 4.142.59 GHz, for 13.5
mm length of horizontal probe corresponding to an impedance
bandwidth of 36.76 % centered at 3.5 GHz. The theoretically
calculated result of VSWR shows good agreement with
simulated results. The enhancement in impedance bandwidth
as compared to the experimental results of [13] is due to
orthogonally slit loading. The effect of variation in the length
of horizontal L-probe on bandwidth is shown in table II. It is
also observed that with increasing the length of horizontal
probe, bandwidth is decreases but impedance matching is
improve, this is due to the fact that increasing the length of the
horizontal section increases the capacitance between the patch
and the L-probe and between patch and ground, which offsets
the inductance provided by the vertical portin of the L-probe

TABLE II. PARAMETRIC STUDY OF BANDWIDTH

L-probe feded ARMSA
Length of
Slit inserted
horizontal
L-probe FH-FL f/central
%BW
frequency
(mm)
(GHz)
13.5

4.142.59

1.25/3.4

36.76

14

4.082.85

1.23/3.4

36.17

14.5

4.022.83

1.19/3.4

35.00

15

3.952.82

1.13/3.4

33.23

V.

L-probe feded ARMSA

(Experimental Result of [13])
FH-FL
(GHz)

f/central
frequency

%BW

0.84/3.5

24

Proposed broad-band single-layer annular ring antenna

using L- probe with orthogonally loading of the surface of the
printed element with slots achieves a larger bandwidth than
the stacked case. The design realizes an impedance bandwidth
of about 36.76% [standing wave ratio (SWR) < 2] at 13.5 mm
length of horizontal L-probe., and possesses return loss better
than 10 dB. The proposed antenna resonates at 3.5 GHz which
can be used in wireless communication (as WiMAX).
REFRENCES

3.923.08

[1]

.
6
5.5
5

VSWR(dB)

4.5
4

[2]
length of horigental L-probe with slit loaded
13.5mm

[3]

14.0 mm
14.5 mm
15.0 mm
theoretically at 15.0 mm

[4]
[5]

3.5

[6]

3
2.5

[7]

2
1.5
1
2.8

3.2

3.4
3.6
3.8
Frequency (GHz)

4.4

[8]

Fig. 3. Variation of VSWR with frequency for different length of horizontal

probe.

[9]

4.2

Relative Power(dB)

Fig.4 shows the E- and H-plane radiation pattern of Lprobe proximity fed annular ring microstrip antenna with
orthogonally slit loaded at 3.5 GHz frequency. It is observed
that the half-power (-3 dB) beamwidth or directivity of the
antennais from -40 degree to 40 degree. It should be noted
that, although the H-plane cross-polarization level is quite low,
it may be advantage in some application e.g., industrial
application.

[10]
[11]
[12]

[13]

-10

[14]

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[15]
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[16]
H-plane (co-poar)
H-plane (cross-poar)
E-plane (co-poar)
E-plane (cross-poar)

-40

-50
-180

-140

-100

-60

-20

20

CONCLSION

60

Theta (Degree)

Fig.4. Radiation patterns for the TM11 mode at 3.5 GHz.

100

140

180

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