HIGH GAIN LINEAR POLARIZATION SWITCHABLE PLANAR ARRAY ANTENNA

In this paper, a linear polarization switchable planar array antenna with enhanced gain and better crosspolarization is proposed. The proposed array antenna consists of a fed patch and four parasitic patches. Four switching diodes are loaded on the corners of the fed patch. The boundary condition of the fed patch is controlled by using the ON/OFF condition of the diodes, and the polarization angle of the array antenna can be orthogonally switched to §45 - with better than i22dB of crosspolarization. The simulated gain of the array antenna is remarkably increased to 12dBi by using four parasitic patches surrounding the fed patch. For matching the resonance frequency of the parasitic patches with the fed patch, a square slot is formed at the center of each parasitic patch. The characteristics of the proposed array antenna are investigated by the FDTD simulation method. The array antenna is fabricated and the experiment is carried out. Both the simulation and the experimental results of the proposed array antenna demonstrate the polarization switching functionality successfully with the enhanced gain in S-band.