Open AccessUltrawideband monopulse antenna with application as a reflector feed
Author(s) -
Rezazadeh Navid,
Shafai Lotfollah
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
iet microwaves, antennas and propagation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.555
H-Index - 69
eISSN - 1751-8733
pISSN - 1751-8725
DOI - 10.1049/iet-map.2015.0437
Subject(s) - cassegrain antenna , antenna feed , optics , radiation pattern , monopulse radar , antenna measurement , offset dish antenna , periscope antenna , antenna efficiency , reflector (photography) , coaxial antenna , physics , acoustics , antenna (radio) , computer science , engineering , electrical engineering , telecommunications , radar , radar imaging , light source , continuous wave radar
A novel ultrawideband pattern diversity antenna, with sum and difference radiation patterns used in monopulse tracking, is proposed. To achieve pattern diversity, a crescent‐shaped radiating element is fed from two sides at an angle close to 90°, by two coaxial feeds. The ground is a corner‐shaped cavity. The sum and difference patterns can be obtained by in‐phase and out‐of‐phase excitations of the two coaxial ports. A single‐element antenna is first studied to show the operating principle of the design. A modified design with two elements is then proposed and studied through simulations and measurements of a fabricated prototype, showing excellent radiation characteristics over a large frequency bandwidth. The application of this antenna as a reflector feed is then studied. It is shown that the antenna can theoretically feed a prime focus reflector with 60% (for the sum pattern) efficiency over a 48% fractional bandwidth (5.5–9 GHz), with a maximum efficiency of 75%. The antenna is compact (5 × 4.1 × 2 cm 3 ) and has low cost and simple fabrication. To the best of authors’ knowledge, this is the first attempt to feed a reflector with this class of antennas.