Rectangular dielectric resonator antenna with polarization reconfigurable characteristic

A rectangular dielectric resonator antenna (DRA) with multiple polarization modes is proposed in this study. The antenna is fed by adjustable feed network composed by Wilkinson power divider and tunable phase shift elements. On this reconfigurable design, it can operate in left-handed circular polarization, right-handed circular polarization, and linear polarization (LP) modes. The 3-dB axial ratio bandwidth of 30.2% for CP modes and impedance bandwidth of 33.3% for CP states are obtained. The maximum gains are 5.7 dBic and 6.34 dBi for CP and LP states. A prototype is built on the FR4 substrate with ideal switches and tested to validate the design. Simulated and measured results showed good agreement on the polarization reconfigurable performances of interest. The proposed DRA can be applied to modern wireless system with polarization diversity requirements.