Full-wave and analytic evaluation of OAM generation in uniform circular arrays

This study presents a design-oriented reference for the synthesis of uniform circular antenna arrays capable of generating orbital angular momentum (OAM) carrying beams. The proposed design procedure is general and independent of operating frequency; however, the analytical phase distributions and full-wave electromagnetic simulations are demonstrated at 6 GHz. Array-factor analysis is used to determine the array radius and to evaluate the resulting phase distribution of the electric field along the polarization axis. Full-wave EM simulation results show good agreement with the analytical predictions, exhibiting a clear central null in the radiation pattern and a well-defined spiral phase distribution.