A Novel Wideband Magnetoelectric Dipole Antenna with Circular Polarization Applied to CubeSat

Abstract In this work a broadband Magnetoelectric (ME) dipole antenna for the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) applied to nanosatellites is proposed. The antenna consists of a reflective cavity with open walls containing four gaps to enhance the axial ratio (AR) bandwidth. Additionally, it includes two ME dipoles formed by two pairs of vertical and horizontal copper plates, one of which is trapezoidal and a T-Γ-shaped cross-feeding structure. A prototype was designed and subsequently manufactured and measured. The experimentally obtained results exhibit consistent agreement with simulated outcomes, demonstrating that the antenna has a wide impedance bandwidth of 111.36% from 1.13 GHz to 1.62 GHz for the Voltage Standing Wave Ratio (VSWR) ≤ 2 and a 3 dB AR bandwidth of 120.45% from 1.10 GHz to 1.63 GHz. Within this range, high gain (≥8.5 dBi) and high radiation efficiency (90%) can be achieved. Furthermore, the antenna exhibits right-hand circular polarization (RHCP) and possesses good unidirectional radiation characteristics with a high front-to-back ratio (≥ 20 dB).