A Wideband Magnetoelectric Dipole Antenna With Microstrip Line Aperture-Coupled Excitation

In this communication, a novel wideband magnetoelectric (ME) dipole antenna is proposed and investigated. A microstrip line aperture-coupled feeding structure is used to excite the antenna. This simple feeding structure can significantly enhance the impedance bandwidth. An antenna prototype is fabricated and exemplified to validate the proposed concept. Measured results show that the proposed ME dipole antenna with microstrip line aperture-coupled excitation achieves an impedance bandwidth of 85% for VSWR < 2 from 2.5 to 6.2 GHz. Further, a measured maximum boresight gain up to 8 dBi is obtained and a 1 dB gain bandwidth is about 67% from 2.5 to 5 GHz. The antenna radiation patterns perform well over the 1 dB gain bandwidth range. A low cross-polarization level is obtained over the operating band.