7328 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ANTENNAS AND PROPAGATION, VOL. 65, NO.

12, DECEMBER 2017

Communication
A Mode-Superposed Microstrip Patch Antenna and Its
Yagi Array With High Front-to-Back Ratio
E. Guo, Juhua Liu , and Yunliang Long

Abstract— A new microstrip patch antenna with a linear superposition
of its even and odd modes is proposed for a high front-to-back (F/B)
ratio. With the mode superposition, the patch antenna has its main beam
in the forward quadrant space and an inherent high F/B ratio. The
antenna exhibits a vertical polarization in the ground plane. With a
low profile, the patch antenna generates a wide impedance bandwidth
though a relatively narrow radiation bandwidth (F/B > 15 dB). In order
to have a wider radiation bandwidth with a high F/B ratio, a vertically
polarized Yagi array antenna is constructed based on the patch antenna,
with an electromagnetic band gap (EBG) structure as a reflector and
a quarter-wavelength patch antenna as a director. (The employment of
the EBG structure is helpful for the enhancement of the F/B ratio, but
it increases the array size on the other hand.) Measured results show
that the constructed Yagi array antenna with a low profile of 0.025λ λ0
achieves an impedance bandwidth of 11.5% (4.83–5.42 GHz) for | S11 | <
−10 dB. Moreover, it has a wide radiation bandwidth of 10.1% (4.90–
5.42 GHz), in which the F/B ratio is higher than 15 dB and the gain is
from 8.5 to 9.5 dBi.
Index Terms— Electromagnetic band gap (EBG), endfire, microstrip
patch antenna, mode superposition, Yagi array antenna.
I. I NTRODUCTION
Microstrip antennas are well known with the advantages of low
profile, low cost, and easy fabrication. A basic rectangular microstrip
patch antenna usually works in the TM10 (odd) mode and generates
a nearly symmetric beam radiating at broadside [1], so it is not
suitable for a circumstance that needs a beam in the forward quadrant
space. Besides, a usual narrow bandwidth of about 2%–3% is also
a disadvantage for a rectangular microstrip antenna, which limits its
application.
The Yagi–Uda array antenna [2] can provide a high gain with
only one driven element, and generates a beam in the forward
direction. Recently, Yagi array antennas based on microstrip patch
antennas are attractive [3]–[7], due to the advantages of low profile
and easy fabrication. These antennas can be easily designed for
a beam in the forward quadrant space (or in the forward endfire
direction with an infinite ground plane). The antennas can be easily
designed for a vertical polarization (in the ground plane), which
are favorite in wireless communication [5]. However, the Yagi–Uda
arrays of microstrip patch antennas usually have front-to-back (F/B)
ratios of only about 8–10 dB [3]–[7]. In the design of a Yagi array
antenna, the F/B ratio is an important characteristic, since an antenna
with a high F/B ratio can not only suppress the interference in the
backward direction but can also decrease the loss of radiated power
in the unwanted direction. In [8], a Yagi array antenna with four
Manuscript received May 6, 2017; revised September 28, 2017; accepted
October 1, 2017. Date of publication October 5, 2017; date of current
version November 30, 2017. This work was supported in part by the Natural
Science Foundation of China under Grant 61401522, Grant 61771497, Grant
41376041, Grant 61172026, and in part by the NSF of Guangdong Province
under Grant 2015A030312010. (Corresponding author: Juhua Liu.)
The authors are with the Department of Electronics and Communication
Engineering, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510006, China (e-mail:
liujh33@mail.sysu.edu.cn).
Color versions of one or more of the figures in this communication are
available online at http://ieeexplore.ieee.org.
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TAP.2017.2759962
0018-926X © 2017 IEEE. Personal use is permitted, but republication/redistribution requires IEEE permission.
See http://www.ieee.org/publications_standards/publications/rights/index.html for more information.
directors provided a high F/B ratio of 15 dB in a narrow radiation
bandwidth of 3.7%, although it had an impedance bandwidth of 8.3%.
In [9], a vertically polarized top-hat monopole Yagi array antenna was
proposed, which provided a wide impedance bandwidth of 20.5%
with a low profile of 0.036λ0 , and an F/B ratio of about 10 dB.
A quasi-Yagi array of printed dipole antennas [10] can be easily
designed to have a high F/B ratio and a wide bandwidth, but it can
only provide a horizontal polarization and cannot be placed directly
on or closely to a ground plane.
Recently, several designs of patch antennas [11]–[15] with dual
mode were proposed for bandwidth enhancement or for a required
radiation pattern. In [11]–[13], patch antennas with dual mode were
proposed to enhance their bandwidths. In [14], a patch antenna using
even and odd modes was designed to achieve null scanning. In [15],
a slotted circular patch antenna with a superposition of the TM12
mode and a slot mode was proposed for sidelobe reduction.
Shorting vias have been introduced to microstrip patch antennas,
to improve their impedance matching [11]–[13] or radiation proper-
ties [16]–[18]. In [16], a rectangular patch antenna with high gain was
proposed using shorting vias. In [17] and [18], circularly polarized
square patch antennas with high gain and wide 3 dB axial ratio
beamwidth were realized using shorting vias.
In [19] and [20], the fundamental (even) traveling-wave mode and
the first higher order (odd) traveling-wave mode in a microstrip line
with a set of periodic shorting vias at the center were investigated.
In [19], the stopband in the even mode was exploited, to suppress
the unwanted even mode and to enhance the excitation efficiency of
the leaky odd mode. In [20], the fundamental even mode was further
investigated with the method of auxiliary sources. It was found that
the fundamental even mode became a leaky mode from a bound
mode, when the microstrip line was loaded with shorting vias [20].
In this communication, a mode-superposed microstrip patch
antenna with an inherent high F/B ratio is proposed. With shorting
vias loading, this patch antenna can simultaneously excite an even
resonant mode and an odd resonant mode. At a certain frequency,
with a proper superposition of the two modes, a main beam with a
very high F/B ratio (>15 dB) can be obtained in the forward quadrant
space. Measured results show that the patch antenna with a low profile
of only 0.025λ0 has a wide impedance bandwidth (|S11 | < −10 dB)
of 9.7%, and a radiation bandwidth of 2.6% in which the F/B ratio is
higher than 15 dB and the gain is up to 8.1 dBi. The patch antenna
is linearly polarized and exhibits a vertical polarization in the ground
plane.
In order to have a wider (radiation) bandwidth with a high F/B ratio
and a stable gain, a vertically polarized Yagi array antenna based on
the presented patch antenna is developed. In the developed Yagi array
antenna, a mushroom-like electromagnetic band gap (EBG) structure
and a quarter-wavelength patch antenna are employed as a reflector
and a director, respectively. The EBG structure here is placed at the
coplanar backside of the driven element and serves as a reflector for
high F/B ratio, whereas the EBG structure in [21] is placed below
the radiators and serves as a high-impedance plane (complementary
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ANTENNAS AND PROPAGATION, VOL. 65, NO. 12, DECEMBER 2017 7329

TABLE I
PARAMETERS FOR THE P ROPOSED PATCH A NTENNA AND YAGI A RRAY

Fig. 1. Top view and cross section of the proposed Yagi array antenna.

to a ground plane) for preventing the effects of the human body

background. (The employment of the EBG structure here can enhance
the F/B ratio on one hand, but it increases the size of the Yagi array,
compared with previously reported microstrip Yagi arrays [4]–[9].)
Measured results show that the constructed Yagi array antenna with
a low profile of 0.025λ0 achieves a fractional impedance bandwidth
of 11.5% (4.83–5.42 GHz) for |S11 | < −10 dB. In addition, it has a
fractional radiation bandwidth of 10.1% (4.90–5.42 GHz), in which
the F/B ratio is higher than 15 dB and the gain is from 8.5 to 9.5 dBi.
Fig. 2. (a) Electric field distribution of the odd mode (5.11 GHz).
II. G EOMETRY (b) Magnetic currents of the odd mode on the proposed patch antenna.
We first investigate the proposed mode-superposed patch antenna,
and then demonstrate the Yagi array based on the patch antenna.
The proposed mode-superposed patch antenna serves as the driven
element for the Yagi array, as shown in Fig. 1.
The geometry of the mode-superposed patch antenna is the driven
element of the Yagi array antenna shown in Fig. 1. The patch antenna
is designed on a substrate with a relative permittivity of εr and a
thickness of h. The rectangular patch has a length of L and a width
of W . The ground plane has a length of L g and a width of Wg . The Fig. 3. (a) Electric field distribution of the even mode (4.68 GHz).
shorting vias have a radius of r and a period of p, and are placed at (b) Magnetic currents of the even mode on the proposed patch antenna.
a distance of lv from one longer edge, as shown in Fig. 1. The patch
antenna is fed by a 50  coaxial probe at a position of b from the field distribution shown in Fig. 2(a). When a set of shorting vias loads
longer edge of the patch, as shown in Fig. 1.The parameters of the the patch antenna near the centerline, an even mode is generated, with
patch antenna are given in the second column in Table I. the electric field distribution shown in Fig. 3(a). The even mode can
be considered as the TM00 mode, since it comes from the resonance
III. M ODE -S UPERPOSED PATCH A NTENNA (D RIVEN E LEMENT ) of the capacitance constituted by the patch and the ground, and the
In this section, the mode-superposed patch antenna is investigated. inductance due to the shorting vias. Alternatively, it can also be
The patch antenna can generate dual mode. With a proper superpo- considered as a degenerated even mode from the odd TM10 mode,
sition of the two modes, a radiation pattern with the main beam in since the resonant frequency of the even mode is almost the same
the forward quadrant space and with an inherently high F/B ratio as that of the TM10 mode when the shorting vias are placed at the
(>15 dB) can be obtained. centerline of the patch and the period of the shorting vias becomes
infinitely small, which can be implied from [19] and [20].
The far field of the odd (TM10 ) mode can approximately be
A. Working Principle
considered to be generated by the magnetic currents along the longer
The antenna can be considered as a rectangular patch antenna with edges of the patch [shown in Fig. 2(b)], namely
a linear superposition of the TM10 (odd) resonant mode and an even
resonant mode. The TM10 mode is an odd mode [19], with the electric Modd = Ms1 + Ms2 (1)
 7330 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ANTENNAS AND PROPAGATION, VOL. 65, NO. 12, DECEMBER 2017

with
L eff W W
Ms1 = A ê y , x = − , − ≤y≤ (2)
2 2 2
and
L eff W W
Ms2 = A ê y , x = , − ≤y≤ (3)
2 2 2
where A represents the complex amplitude of the magnetic currents
for the odd mode. In (2) and (3), L eff can be calculated by
L eff = L + 2L (4)
where L can be calculated by [22]
 
delta L =.78967 mm (εr + 0.3) W /h + 0.264
using epsilon L = 0.412 × h  . (5)
effective =2.098273 (εr − 0.258) W /h + 0.8

Similarly, the far field of the even mode can be approximated to

be generated by the magnetic currents along the longer edges [shown
in Fig. 3(b)], namely
Meven = Ms3 + Ms4 (6)
with
L eff W W
Ms3 = −B ê y , x = − , − ≤y≤ (7)
2 2 2
and
L eff W W
Ms4 = B ê y , x = , − ≤y≤ (8)
2 2 2
where B represents the complex amplitude of the magnetic currents
for the even mode.
In the principle vertical plane (x z plane), the antenna produces lin- Fig. 4. Simulated and measured results of the proposed patch antenna.
early polarized fields of E θ . In this theoretical calculation, an infinite (a) Reflection coefficients and input resistance. (b) F/B ratios and gains.
ground is assumed for convenience. Then, the far fields for the even
and odd modes in the x z plane, which are generated by the magnetic
currents (1) and (6), can be calculated by
 
 2Ae− j k0 r k0 L eff
E θ,odd (θ, φ)φ=0 = j cos sin θ (9)
λ0 r 2
and
 
 2Be− j k0 r k0 L eff
E θ,even (θ, φ)φ=0 = − sin sin θ . (10)
λ0 r 2
Let the superposed far field of the even and odd modes have a null
Fig. 5. Simulated (a) amplitude ratio and (b) phase difference of the even
in the backward endfire direction (θ = −90°), namely and odd modes in the proposed patch antenna.
 
E θ,odd (θ, φ)θ=−90°,φ=0 + E θ,even (θ, φ)θ=−90°,φ=0 = 0. (11)
The magnitude and phase of the ratio between the even and odd
Then a solution is found for a half-heart-shaped pattern in the modes are shown in Fig. 5(a) and (b), respectively. To obtain the
upper half space electric fields for the two modes, we first measure the average electric
 
A k0 L eff field E 1 at x = L / 4, −W / 2 ≤ y ≤ W / 2, z = h / 2, and the
= e j 90° tan . (12)
B 2 average electric field E 2 at x = −L / 4, −W / 2 ≤ y ≤ W / 2,
z = h / 2. Second, we calculate the electric field of the even mode by
In the realized patch antenna (driven element) shown in Fig. 1,
E even = (E 1 +E 2 ) / 2, and that of the odd mode by E odd = (E 1 −E 2 )
the ratio between A and B can be tuned by the distance lv and the
/ 2. The ratio of the two modes is shown in Fig. 5. It is seen that
period p of the shorting vias.
the ratio reaches E odd /E even = 1.86e j 88° at f = 5.14 GHz where
the patch antenna has the highest F/B ratio, which is close to the
B. Comparison With Simulated and Measured Results theoretical value of A/B = 1.75e j 90° calculated by (12).
In order to verify the theoretical analysis, a patch antenna with the In order to validate the theoretical analysis and the simulation, the
optimal parameters given in Table I is simulated by ANSYS high- proposed patch antenna is fabricated and measured. The measured
frequency structure simulator (HFSS). The reflection coefficient and results for the reflection coefficient, F/B ratio, and gain are shown
input resistance are shown in Fig. 4(a). A dual mode can be found in Fig. 4. It is seen that the measured results agree well with the
from Fig. 4(a). The dual mode relates to the even and odd modes, with simulated ones. A frequency shift of 0.16 GHz occurs probably due to
the corresponding field distributions shown in Figs. 3(a) and 2(a), a smaller relative permittivity of the substrate used in the fabrication.
respectively. The measured result in Fig. 4(a) shows that the −10 dB reflection
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ANTENNAS AND PROPAGATION, VOL. 65, NO. 12, DECEMBER 2017 7331

Fig. 6. Simulated and theoretical results for the radiation pattern at 5.14 GHz
and measured one at 5.3 GHz in the x z plane.

coefficient bandwidth of the proposed patch antenna is 0.5 GHz (from

4.91 to 5.41 GHz, 9.7% in fraction).
Fig. 4(b) shows simulated and measured results for the F/B ratio
and the gain of the patch antenna. The simulated result shows that Fig. 7. 2-D dispersion diagram for the EBG from HFSS.
the antenna has a high F/B ratio of 23 dB and a gain of 8.6 dBi
at 5.14 GHz. The F/B ratio decreases when the frequency deviates
from 5.14 GHz, since the ratio of the even and odd modes is not the
optimal value as given in (12). Fortunately, the F/B ratio is higher
than 15 dB in a band from 5.08 to 5.21 GHz, with a fractional
radiation bandwidth of 2.5%. The measured result shows that the
radiation bandwidth for F/B > 15 dB is 0.14 GHz (from 5.22 to
5.36 GHz, 2.6% in fraction), which is close to the simulated one.
The measured gain is about 0.5–2 dB lower than the simulated one,
probably due to the additional loss introduced by the SMA connector
and the measurement errors. In the radiation bandwidth (from 5.22 to
5.36 GHz, for F/B > 15 dB), the measured result shows that the
antenna has a stable gain from 7.5 to 8.1 dBi. Fig. 8. Photographs of the fabricated Yagi array. (a) Top view. (b) Bottom
view.
The simulated radiation pattern at f = 5.14 GHz is shown in
Fig. 6 and compared with the theoretical one calculated by (9)–(12).
Due to the frequency shift of 0.16 GHz, the measured result for
the radiation pattern at 5.3 GHz is compared and it agrees well
with the simulated one at 5.14 GHz. As for the theoretical result,
an infinite ground plane is assumed in the calculation. In the simulated
and measured results, on the other hand, the antenna is with finite
ground plane. It is seen from Fig. 6 that the measured, simulated, and
theatrical results are in good consistence. All these results indicate
that the antenna has a half-heart-shaped pattern in the upper half
space, which has a near null in the backward endfire direction (θ =
−90°). However, due to the diffraction effect of the finite ground
plane, radiation in the lower half space also occurs, and finite ground
plane radiated field in the exact endfire direction (θ = 90°) (in the
simulated and measured patterns) is reduced by about 6 dB compared
with that with infinite ground plane (in the theoretical pattern) [23].
Fig. 9. Measured and simulated reflection coefficients for the Yagi array.
C. Design Methodology
1) First, a set of periodic shorting vias is adopted to load the but a relatively narrow radiation bandwidth. In order to have a
rectangular patch near the centerline, and therefore the even- wider (radiation) bandwidth with a high F/B ratio and a stable gain,
and odd-resonant modes are excited simultaneously. a vertically polarized Yagi array based on the presented patch antenna
2) Second, the distance (lv ), period ( p), and radius (r ) of the is developed. The structure of the Yagi array is shown in Fig. 1.
shorting vias are optimized for the radiation pattern with the In the Yagi array, the aforementioned patch antenna serves as the
highest F/B ratio (>15 dB). driven element, a quarter-wavelength patch is used as a director, and
3) At last, the position of feeding point (b) is optimized for a mushroom-like EBG structure of a 6 × 4 array is adopted as a
a good impedance matching. In the optimization, it is also reflector. The detailed parameters of the Yagi array are given in the
required that the impedance bandwidth overlaps the radiation third column in Table I.
bandwidth (F/B > 15 dB). The director element (Fig. 1) is a quarter-wavelength patch antenna
with one edge shorted, which works as an equivalent magnetic
IV. YAGI A RRAY BASED ON THE PATCH A NTENNA element [6]. The effect of such director in a Yagi array antenna has
A. Antenna Design been studied in [5] and [6].
The investigation in Section III demonstrates that the mode- The reflector is based on Sievenpiper mushroom periodic EBG
superposed patch antenna exhibits a wide impedance bandwidth structure [24]. The basic element of the EBG structure is a square
7332 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ANTENNAS AND PROPAGATION, VOL. 65, NO. 12, DECEMBER 2017
Fig. 10. Measured and simulated F/B ratios for the Yagi array.
Fig. 11. Measured and simulated gains for the Yagi array.
Fig. 12. Radiation patterns for the Yagi array at 4.9, 5.2, and 5.4 GHz.
(a) x z plane. (b) xy plane. The solid lines represent the co-polarization and
the dashed ones represent the cross-polarization.
patch with a shorting via loading at the center. The length of each
patch is L e , and the gaps in the x- and y-directions are gx and g y ,
respectively, as shown in Fig. 1. A 6 × 4 array of basic elements
is constructed as an EBG reflector. The parameters for the EBG are
given in Table I. The dispersion curves of the mushroom-like EBG
are obtained using HFSS [24], [25]. Fig. 7 shows the 2-D dispersion
diagram for the EBG. The 2-D dispersion diagram shows that a band
gap [24] of the EBG occurs from 4.74 to 7.65 GHz and it covers the
operating band of the driven element. In the band gap, it is difficult
for the electromagnetic wave to propagate along the EBG. Therefore,
the mushroom-like EBG can serve as a reflector in this band gap, to
reduce the back lobes for the Yagi array.
B. Experiment
The prototype of the proposed Yagi array antenna is fabricated, as
shown in Fig. 8. The geometry is shown in Fig. 1 and the parameters
are given in the third column in Table I.
Fig. 9 shows the measured and simulated results of the reflection
coefficient for the Yagi array. A small frequency shift of 0.16 GHz
is also observed between the simulated and the measured results,
due to a smaller permittivity of the substrate used in the fabrication.
The measured −10 dB reflection coefficient bandwidth is 0.59 GHz,
which is from 4.83 to 5.42 GHz, 11.5% in fraction. The bandwidth of
the Yagi array is slightly wider than that (9.7%) of the single driven
element [Fig. 4(a)].
Fig. 10 shows the measured and simulated results for the F/B ratio
of the Yagi array. Measured result shows that the F/B ratio of the Yagi
array is higher than 15 dB in the band from 4.90 to 5.42 GHz, with
a radiation bandwidth of 0.52 GHz, 10.1% in fraction. The measured
result has a similar variation trend with the simulated one, although
there are some discrepancies due to the measurement errors. Com-
pared with the single driven element [Fig. 4(b)], the radiation band-
width increases notably from 0.14 GHz (2.6%) to 0.52 GHz (10.1%).
Fig. 11 shows the measured and simulated results for the gain of
the Yagi array. The measured result for the gain of the Yagi array
is about 1–2 dB lower than the simulated one, probably due to the
measurement errors and the additional loss introduced by the SMA
connector. In the radiation bandwidth from 4.90 to 5.42 GHz, the Yagi
array has a measured gain from 8.5 to 9.5 dBi, with a variation within
1 dB. Compared with the single driven element [Fig. 4(b)], the gain
of the Yagi array increases by about 1 dB.
Fig. 12 shows the measured radiation patterns of the Yagi array at
4.9, 5.2, and 5.4 GHz. It is seen that the main beams of the Yagi array
are almost stable in the elevation range between 30° and 40°, and
the F/B ratios are all higher than 15 dB in the radiation bandwidth.
The co-polarization of the Yagi array is E θ in the principle vertical
plane (x z plane). In the azimuth (ground) plane, the Yagi array
exhibits a vertical polarization. The cross-polarization level of the
Yagi array is mostly lower than −20 dB.
V. C OMPARISON
Table II shows the comparisons of our proposed antennas with
several published antennas. Compared with the published anten-
nas [4]–[7], [26], [27] whose F/B ratios are about 10 dB, our
presented Yagi array has an F/B ratio over 15 dB. Though the
published antenna [8] has an F/B ratio over 15 dB, its radiation
bandwidth with such an F/B ratio is only 3.7%. It is seen that the
radiation bandwidth (F/B > 15 dB) of 10.1% of our Yagi array
is much wider than that in [8]. Besides, the presented Yagi array
antenna has a rather low profile (0.025λ0 ) and exhibits a medium
wide impedance bandwidth (11.5%) in the comparison. On the other
hand, due to the adoption of the EBG structure, the size of our
Yagi array is relatively larger. For a high F/B ratio and a small size,
our mode-superposed patch antenna is an alternative though with a
relatively narrow radiation bandwidth.
VI. C ONCLUSION
A new microstrip patch antenna with a linear superposition of
even and odd modes is proposed at first, which inherently owns a
high F/B ratio (>15 dB). The patch antenna produces a beam in
the forward quadrant space, with a high F/B ratio and a high gain.
Measured results show that the patch antenna with a low profile of
0.025λ0 has a wide impedance bandwidth of 9.7%, and a radiation
bandwidth (F/B > 15 dB) of 2.6%. In the radiation bandwidth,
the F/B ratio is higher than 15 dB and the gain is from 7.5 to
8.1 dBi. The patch antenna is linearly polarized and exhibits a
vertical polarization in the ground plane.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ANTENNAS AND PROPAGATION, VOL. 65, NO. 12, DECEMBER 2017
TABLE II
C OMPARISONS OF S EVERAL P LANAR YAGI A RRAY A NTENNAS
In order to broaden the radiation bandwidth in which a high F/B
ratio is preserved, a vertically polarized Yagi array employing the
presented patch antenna as the driven element is developed. The
developed Yagi array uses a mushroom-like EBG structure as a
reflector and a quarter-wavelength patch antenna as a director. (Due
to the employment of the EBG structure, the size of the Yagi array
is increased.) Measured results show that the Yagi array has a wide
impedance bandwidth of 11.5% and a wide radiation bandwidth (F/B
> 15 dB) of 10.1%. In the radiation bandwidth, the Yagi array has
an F/B ratio higher than 15 dB, and a measured gain from 8.5 to
9.5 dBi, with a variation within 1 dB.
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