IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON EDUCATION, VOL. 46, NO.

3, AUGUST 2003 313

Understanding and Measuring Circular Polarization

Bee Yen Toh, Member, IEEE, Robert Cahill, and Vincent F. Fusco, Senior Member, IEEE

Abstract—Many modern satellite and terrestrial point-to-point

communications systems use circular polarization (CP) wave prop-
agation in order to maximize the polarization efficiency component
of the link budget. Therefore, in an undergraduate electromag-
netics syllabus, an introduction to the topic of circular polarization
is necessary to promote an understanding of the propagation
aspects of modern communications system design. Students new
to the antennas and propagation discipline often have difficulty in
grasping the concept of CP; therefore, in this paper, the essential
aspects of this topic are reinforced by a tutorial description of CP in (a)
terms of wave propagation, antenna properties, and measurement
techniques. A simple laboratory-based project is described that re-
quires the design, fabrication, and measurement of a crossed dipole
antenna. The measured input impedance and radiation patterns
are correlated with theory to highlight the conditions necessary to
support CP wave propagation. By combining basic electromagnetic
concepts with a series of simple intuitive laboratory experiments,
the students can more easily visualize, and hence understand, CP
wave propagation and its use in communications systems design.
Index Terms—Antennas, circular polarization (CP), dipoles, mi-
crowaves, wave propagation. (b)

I. INTRODUCTION

A N IMPORTANT property of electromagnetic wave prop-

agation is the polarization of the electric field ( ), which
is defined by the orientation of the vector as it varies in time.
In linearly polarized systems, such as television broadcast net-
works, the electric-field vector is fixed in a plane containing the
direction of propagation and is defined as vertically polarized
when the vector is orientated perpendicular to the ground.
The channel capacity of a communications link can be dou-
bled in a frequency reuse system, where polarization diversity (c)
[1] is achieved by the simultaneous generation of orthogonal
Fig. 1. (a) Left-hand circular polarization. (b) Right-hand circular polariza-
linear field components. Similarly, many cellular operators use tion. (c) Polarization ellipse.
dual polar propagation [2], but in this case, the purpose is to
reduce the effects of multipath interference, which might oth-
to rotate as a consequence of interaction with static magnetic
erwise produce fading. However, for many communication sys-
fields along the propagation path. Therefore, again, the polar-
tems, it is preferable to operate in the circular polarization mode,
ization match between the antennas can be maintained without
where the trajectory of the tip of the vector rotates about the
the use of complex tracking systems.
propagation axis as a function of time. Such operation is the case
A perfectly circularly polarized wave, as shown in Fig. 1,
for satellite and ground station antennas, since circular polariza-
is generated by an antenna that simultaneously excites two
tion (CP) operation removes the need to continuously align the
orthogonal vectors of equal amplitude and in phase quadrature.
two apertures, which would otherwise be required to maximize
Formal definitions for this mode of propagation are given in the
the receive power. In addition, CP signals are not subject to the
IEEE Standard Test Procedures for Antennas [4], where the sense
Faraday rotation effect [3], which causes the linear-field vectors
of polarization is given by the direction of the rotation of the
vector describing a circle for an observer looking in the direction
Manuscript received April 24, 2002; revised August 31, 2002. of propagation (Fig. 1). Circularly symmetric radiating struc-
B. Y. Toh was with the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering,
Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast BT9 5AH, Northern Ireland, U.K. She is tures, which include classes of resonant and traveling-wave wire
now with TDK Electronics Ireland, Ltd., Belfast BT9 5EE, U.K. antennas, such as helixes [5], quadrifilars [6], and logarithmic
R. Cahill and V. F. Fusco are with The School of Electrical and Electronic spirals [7], naturally generate CP waves when suitably excited.
Engineering, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast BT9 5AH, U.K. (e-mail:
r.cahill@qub.ac.uk). In this paper, however, a simpler way to describe and visu-
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TE.2003.813519 alize wave generation is provided by considering the properties
0018-9359/03$17.00 © 2003 IEEE
314
Fig. 2. Antenna range setup for determining the gain of an elliptically polarized antenna (11).
of a conceptually more simple radiating structure—the quadra-
ture-fed crossed dipole. The design and operation of the dipole is
described, and measurements of the input impedance and radia-
tion patterns are presented. The experimental results are used to
demonstrate that the desired phase quadrature condition can be
achieved by selecting the lengths of the two dipole arms. In addi-
tion, it is shown that the hand of polarization is determined by the
relative polarity of the wave components in each pair of dipole
arms comprising the structure. Experimental radiation patterns
are shown to be in close agreement with results obtained from the
numerical electromagnetic code (NEC) [8], which is a useful tool
for teaching the radiation behavior of wire antennas. Techniques
for measuring the radiation pattern, gain, and axial ratio (AR)
performance of a CP antenna are described and related to the ex-
perimental results in order to promote a better understanding of
the physical concepts unique to this mode of wave propagation.
II. DEFINITIONS AND MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES
A. Definitions
The polarization of an electromagnetic wave is defined by the
shape and orientation of the tip of the vector as it varies with
time [9]. In this paper, this situation is defined in a frame of ref-
erence from an observation point at the source looking in the
direction of propagation in the axis, as shown in Fig. 1. The
sense of a circularly polarized wave is determined by the rota-
tion direction of the vector as it describes a circle; a right-hand
CP (RHCP) signal is generated when the rotation direction is
clockwise, and for a left-hand CP (LHCP) wave, the vector
rotates counterclockwise [4]. A practical antenna usually gen-
erates an imperfect circularly polarized field; therefore, the
vector traces out an ellipse, instead of a circle, as shown in
Fig. 1(c). The ratio of the major to minor axes defines the AR of
the polarized wave, and the spatial orientation is defined as the
tilt angle [ in Fig. 1(c)] in the clockwise direction between a
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON EDUCATION, VOL. 46, NO. 3, AUGUST 2003
reference position and the major axis looking in the direction of
propagation ( direction).
For perfect CP wave propagation, where only one hand of po-
larization is generated, the AR will have a value of 1. In the ex-
treme case where the magnitude of the RHCP and LHCP com-
ponents are the same, the circle formed by the tip of the vector
degenerates into a line, the polarization becomes linear, and the
AR value becomes infinite. To provide maximum coupling in
point-to-point communication systems [10], the two antennas
must be polarization-matched and their tilt angles aligned.
If the complex voltage terms in the horizontal and vertical
planes (or any two orthogonal cuts) and are of equal
amplitude and in phase quadrature ( 90 ), these terms may be
combined to express either the RHCP or LHCP wave compo-
nents [9]
(1)
and
(2)
The radiation patterns that are generated by a CP antenna can,
therefore, be plotted by combining the amplitude and phase re-
sponse of two orthogonal, linearly-polarized waves at each ob-
servation angle (azimuth angle in Fig. 2), using (1) and (2).
B. Measurement Techniques
In the experimental setup shown in Fig. 2, the phase of the two
field components is measured relative to the signal generator,
and a rectangular horn (high linear polarization purity) serves
as the source antenna. A major source of measurement error
is therefore eliminated [10], since rectangular horn antennas,
compared with circular polarized feeds, generate lower levels of
cross-polarization over broad bands. Equations (1) and (2) may
be expanded to give simple expressions that can be inserted into
data logging software to provide a direct conversion from dual
TOH et al.: UNDERSTANDING AND MEASURING CIRCULAR POLARIZATION
Fig. 3. Radiation pattern comparison of an elliptically polarized antenna and a standard gain antenna (11).
linear to RHCP and LHCP power at each measurement angle
. Let the real and imaginary components of the horizontal and
vertical response be expressed as
where
and
where
The horizontal and vertical amplitude and phase
components are quantities that are measured at each
angle in the far field of the antenna, with the source horn
orientated at angles 0 and 90 (Fig. 2). Inserting into (1)
and (2) gives the field in the two hands of polarization
and
In each hand of polarization, the power can be expressed by
dB
where 377 is the wave impedance in free space. The antenna
far-field radiation pattern in each cut ( ) is generated by plotting
315
the parameters (deg), (dB), and (dB). A prac-
tical antenna normally generates a desired reference polariza-
tion in addition to an undesirable cross-polar component, which
(3) is polarized in the opposite hand. For example, in Fig. 6, RHCP
is the reference polarization, and LHCP is the cross-polar com-
ponent. In the main beam, gives
the cross-polar level at a given azimuth angle . For a perfectly
circularly polarized pattern, this level is dB ( 0 dB),
and for a linearly polarized field, where the two CP signals are
of identical magnitude, this level is 0 dB ( dB). The
(4) reference and cross-polar spatial patterns can also be retrieved
from an AR plot, which is generated using a linearly polarized
spinning source antenna in the experimental setup. This infor-
mation requires the source horn to be continuously rotated about
its axis ( ) while moving the antenna under test in azimuth ( ),
as shown in Fig. 2. The ripples in the radiation pattern plotted
in Fig. 3 are a consequence of the beam ellipticity, which oc-
curs when a finite cross-polar component exists. The depth of
the nulls defines the AR, which is related to cross-polarization
by the expression
AR (8)
(5) where and is the cross-polar power.
The gain substitution method is one of several techniques that
can be used to provide an accurate measurement of the absolute
gain of a CP antenna [11], [12]. This method requires the beam
(6) and AR peak of the antenna under test (AUT) to be found and
the power level compared, when the AUT is replaced with a
gain standard antenna, which is referenced to an isotropic
source (Fig. 3). The absolute gain (expressed as dBil) of the
(7) AUT, referenced to a linear isotropic source, is determined from
the difference in the measured power level . Thus
dBil (9)
316 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON EDUCATION, VOL. 46, NO. 3, AUGUST 2003

For a polarization-pure AUT, the absolute gain of the antenna

referenced to a circularly polarized isotropic source (ex-
pressed as dBic) may then be expressed as
dBic (10)
In (10), the 3-dB increase in gain represents the difference in
the power received by a linear isotropic and circular isotropic
antenna when these are illuminated by a polarization-pure CP
signal. However, practical antennas generate a component of
cross-polar power, which results in an elliptically polarized field
pattern. Therefore, a correction factor must be applied to
compensate for the finite AR, which is measured at the beam
peak, as shown in Fig. 3
dB AR (11)
Thus, antenna gain can then be calculated using the expression
dBic (12)

III. EXPERIMENTS WITH CIRCULARLY POLARIZED

DIPOLE ANTENNAS
A. Background
The half-wavelength dipole antenna, which was used in
the experiments, is a linearly polarized radiating structure, Fig. 4. Layout of a prototype 1.7-GHz CP dipole.
consisting of two quarter-wavelength straight wire elements,
which are fed in antiphase by a voltage source located at the
center. The current peaks at the middle and is zero at the ends of
the dipole arms. A three-dimensional (3-D) plot of the far-field
resembles a doughnut with an omnidirectional distribution in
the plane perpendicular to the dipole axis and a figure eight
pattern in the orthogonal cut. At resonance, the input impedance
is typically around ; therefore, the dipole can be fed
by a 50- transmission line to give a voltage standing wave
ratio (VSWR) of 1.4 : 1 at the center frequency . Therefore,
without an impedance matching circuit, 97% of the incident
energy is delivered to the antenna at frequency . However,
the impedance bandwidth is very narrow, since at frequencies
below , the dipole becomes capacitive, and above , where
the electrical length of the two arms is larger than , the
dipole becomes inductive. The change in the current phase on
the dipole arms is transformed to the radiated field so that those
elements shorter than the nominal resonant length generate
waves with a relative phase lag; whereas, when the dipole arms
are longer, the phase is advanced. It follows, therefore, that the
phase condition needed to launch circularly polarized waves
can be satisfied by an antenna design consisting of orthogonal
dipoles with appropriately selected unequal arm lengths. Fig. 5. Swept frequency measured return loss and impedance of 1.7-GHz CP
dipole.
B. Crossed Dipole CP Antenna
A crossed dipole was designed and constructed at 1.7 GHz to Clearly, the relative phase difference between the two dipoles
demonstrate the principle of CP wave generation. First, the nom- is close to 90 ; therefore, this design satisfies the phase re-
inal length (88 mm, i.e., at 1.7 GHz) of two individual quirement for CP propagation. The prototype antenna, which is
linear dipole antennas was modified to give the measured input shown in Fig. 4, was constructed using a 2.1-mm diameter semi-
impedance and resultant phase rigid coaxial cable, with an SMA connector at the input port to
feed the orthogonal wire arms of the dipole. A folded balun [13]
Long element (93 mm) 50
consisting of a (44-mm) conductor was soldered between
and the two orthogonal dipole arms that connect with the center con-
Short elements (74 mm) 39 ductor of the coax and the cable sheath. This step is essential to
TOH et al.: UNDERSTANDING AND MEASURING CIRCULAR POLARIZATION
Fig. 6. CP radiation patterns of 1.7-GHz CP dipole.
decouple the antenna from the transmission line, thereby sup-
pressing current flow on the outer jacket of the cable assembly.
Fig. 4 illustrates the feed arrangement at the top of the an-
tenna and gives the critical dimensions, which were determined
from preliminary measurements made on the two individual ex-
perimental linear dipoles. The measured swept frequency return
loss plot presented in Fig. 5 shows the presence of two sharp res-
onances that combine at 1.7 GHz to give an input impedance of
. This impedance is close to the parallel impedance
value of , which was calculated for the indi-
vidual dipoles, i.e., and in parallel
at 1.7 GHz. Typical RHCP and LHCP measured radiation pat-
317
terns are given in Fig. 6, where the boresight cross-polar level
( ) is approximately 14 dB (AR 3.5 dB). The
difference in the beam shape observed in the two cuts can be
attributed to the unequal length of the orthogonal dipole arms,
since this difference has an impact on the current amplitude.
Nevertheless, the experimental polar plots, which were mea-
sured using the procedure described in Section II-B, show that
this simple antenna satisfies the criteria necessary to generate
CP waves with good polarization discrimination. As expected,
a polarization change occurs beyond 90 , where the RHCP
and LHCP patterns cross over as a consequence of the physical
rotation of the dipole. The resulting effective phase change in
318
one plane along the propagating path produces a reversal of the
polarization sense of the beam at boresight and 180 (Fig. 6). In
the same way, a CP wave reflects from a perfectly conducting
planar surface in the opposite hand of polarization, where in the
reverse direction, the propagating wave forms a mirror image
with respect to its forward component.
The radiation pattern of the crossed dipole was modeled using
the NEC [8], which is widely used to analyze the electromag-
netic response of wire antennas and other metal structures. The
method-of-moments technique is invoked to provide the numer-
ical solution to integral equations for the currents induced on the
antenna structure [13], [14]. In the computer model, the con-
ducting arms of the dipole were modeled using a series of wire
segments each of length , and the structure was fed at the
center by a voltage source. Fig. 6 shows that the shape of the
RHCP and LHCP patterns are in close agreement with the ex-
perimental results. For example, the LHCP minima at 45 ,
unique to the dipole orientation in Fig. 6(a), is predicted by
NEC, as is the copolar beamwidth variation resulting from the
difference in the orthogonal arm lengths.
IV. CONCLUSION
The physics of CP wave propagation, the processes involved
in launching CP, and engineering methods for quantifying the
wave properties have been described by applying fundamental
concepts that are taught in the undergraduate electromagnetic
curriculum. To promote a better understanding and visualization
of the physical principles, a laboratory-based project involving
a series of simple experiments has been designed to enable stu-
dents to observe the essential amplitude and phase criteria as-
sociated with this mode of wave propagation. In addition, defi-
nitions and measurement parameters commonly used to specify
a CP antenna radiation pattern have been described, and simple
equations to quantify these patterns are given. The experimental
aspects of the project highlight the relevance of the basic con-
cepts and give the students an opportunity to employ many of
the antenna measurement techniques that are described in this
paper. Experimental radiation patterns have been shown to be
in close agreement with results computed using NEC. This an-
tenna analysis tool has a user friendly interface, which enables
the students to easily create the geometry of a CP antenna from
which two-dimensional (2-D) and 3-D polar plots, current am-
plitude distribution on the wire surfaces, VSWR, and impedance
plots may be obtained. By combining descriptive, analytical and
experimental teaching methods, instructors can motivate the stu-
dents while reinforcing their understanding of the principles and
measurement of CP and its uses in modern communications
system design.
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[6] R. Cahill, I. Cartmell, G. Van Dooren, K. Clibbon, and C. Sillence, “Per-
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Bee Yen Toh (S’99–A’01–M’98) was born in Singapore. She received the
B.Eng. degree in electrical and electronic engineering (with first-class honors)
and the Ph.D. degree from the Queen’s University of Belfast (QUB), Belfast,
U.K., in 1998 and 2001, respectively. Her doctoral work concerned heterodyne
retrodirective array characterization.
From 1993 to 1996, she worked for ST Aerospace Engineering Pte, Ltd., Sin-
gapore, a local aviation company, and was involved in aircraft avionics systems
upgrade and installation. Thereafter, she joined QUB. She is currently with TDK
Electronics Ireland, Ltd., Belfast, working as an RF Design Engineer.
Robert Cahill received the B.Sc. degree (first class) in physics from the Uni-
versity of Aston, Birmingham, U.K., in 1979 and the Ph.D. degree in microwave
electronics from the University of Kent, Canterbury, U.K., in 1982.
In 1999, he was appointed Senior Lecturer at Queen’s University of Belfast,
Belfast, U.K., after having spent 17 years in the industry researching electro-
magnetic simulation techniques and working on the design of high-performance
radio frequency and microwave passive front-end components for defense, com-
munication, and space systems. His research interests include the development
of antennas for radar and cellular communication systems, techniques for as-
sessing the performance of low-gain antennas on complex scattering surfaces
(such as satellites), and the design of millimeter-wave quasioptical frequency-
selective-surfaces (FSS) beam-splitting devices for space-borne remote-sensing
radiometers. His research work has resulted in more than 60 published works
and two international patents.
Vincent F. Fusco (SM’02) obtained the B.S. degree in electrical and electronic
engineering (first-class honors), the Ph.D. degree in microwave electronics, and
the D.Sc. degree from Queen’s University of Belfast (QUB), Belfast, U.K., in
1979, 1982, and 2002, respectively.
In 1985, he was appointed Lecturer in Microwave Communications at QUB,
where he was promoted to Reader in 1991 and obtained a personal Chair in
high frequency electronic engineering in 1995. His own research interests in-
clude active antenna techniques, which includes the development of fast com-
putational electromagnetic solvers and new fabrication procedures for on-chip
realization. The main focus for this research is in the area of broad-band wire-
less telecommunications. He has pioneered many new concepts that have been
adopted by other research workers or have been adapted for commercial ex-
ploitation by industry. At present, he is head of the high-frequency laboratories
at QUB, where he is also Associate Dean for Research and Director of the Euro-
pean Union-funded Microwave and Millimeter Wave Resource Center. He has
published 250 scientific papers in major journals and in referred international
conferences, holds several patents, and has contributed invited chapters to sev-
eral books in the field of active antenna design and electromagnetic field com-
putation.
Prof. Fusco is a Fellow of the Institution of Electrical Engineers since 1996. In
1986, he was awarded a British Telecommunications Fellowship, and in 1997,
he was awarded the NI Engineering Federation Trophy for outstanding indus-
trially relevant research.