Twist and Glide Symmetries for Helix Antenna Design and Miniaturization

Abstract

Here we propose the use of twist and glide symmetries to increase the equivalent refractive index in a helical guiding structure. Twist- and glide-symmetrical distributions are created with corrugations placed at both sides of a helical strip. Combined twist-and glide-symmetrical helical unit cells are studied in terms of their constituent parameters. The increase of the propagation constant is mainly controlled by the length of the corrugations. In our proposed helix antenna, twist and glide symmetry cells are used to reduce significantly the operational frequency compared with conventional helix antenna. Equivalently, for a given frequency of operation, the dimensions of helix are reduced with the use of higher symmetries. The theoretical results obtained for our proposed helical structure based on higher symmetries show a reduction of 42.2% in the antenna size maintaining a similar antenna performance when compared to conventional helix antennas.