Circularly polarized Ka-band radiating element unit-cell for SatCom wide-angle electronically steered phased arrays

Abstract

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Manufacture and Measurement of Circularly Polarized Ka-Band Radiating Elements for SatCom Wide-Angle Phased Arrays Tiles

“…The unit-cell initially proposed in [4] is slightly modified due to manufacture requirements. The stack-up of the layers is shown schematically in Figure 1.…”

“…The Cross Polar Discrimination ratio (XPD) obtained after a classical phase quadrature recombination of the left and right ports is -20 dB. A formation more optimized in amplitude and phase of circular polarization as carried out in [4] could be implemented in the long term with active modules. Active reflection coefficients also attest to a 2 GHz bandwidth localization [18 GHz -20 GHz] for beam steering up to 70° but with levels reaching -7dB significantly higher than those predicted by infinite array simulations.…”

“…In [3] an antenna with coupled patches is proposed with a hollow cavity and wideband large steering angles are obtained thanks to the low permittivity cavity. Recently in [4] we proposed the unit-cell design of a new circularly polarized cavity-backed antenna as an antenna element for low profile Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) with a beam-scanning capability over a wide-angle range. Active reflection coefficients simulations of Rx and Tx infinite arrays with a triangular lattice show low axial ratio even in the +/-60° directions.…”

Development of Antenna Array Technologies at ONERA

“…In this context, one mission of the DEMR is to conduct research studies and developments of antennas in the frame of internal projects and through national and European projects in collaboration with industry and research institutes. Its fields of activity cover the development of antennas for radar, communications, Satcom and EW applications [1][2][3]. These activities are based on the use of proprietary and commercial modeling tools, antenna measurement facilities (VHF to Q frequency bands) and a set of material characterization benches (2-60 GHz frequency band).…”