A Millimeter-Wave Wideband Dual-Polarized Antenna Array With 3-D-Printed Air-Filled Differential Feeding Cavities

Abstract

A millimeter-wave high-gain dual-polarized antenna array with an enhanced bandwidth is presented. An innovative air-filled differential feeding cavity loaded with a short-ended cross-shaped waveguide is investigated to serve as the feed network and the mode splitter simultaneously of the <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$2\,\,\times2$ </tex-math></inline-formula> dual-polarized subarrays. Wideband characteristics and a compact planar size that are desirable for the wideband array design are achieved. Moreover, a wideband dual-polarized waveguide-fed magnetoelectric (ME) dipole antenna with a lightweight self-support geometry and wideband H-plane parallel feed networks with modified dual-layered configurations are proposed, which are convenient to connect with the differential feeding cavity directly. With the use of a commercial metallic 3-D printing facility, the proposed radiating elements, feeding cavities, and feed networks can be combined successfully in a whole piece with a lightweight geometry. The printed <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$8 \times 8$ </tex-math></inline-formula> array prototype operating in the Ka-band confirms a wide bandwidth of about 30%, a gain of up to 28.5 dBi, and stable unidirectional radiation patterns for the two polarizations. Benefitted from the advantages of the promising wideband dual-polarized radiations and convenience of fabrication, the proposed antenna array would be attractive for millimeter-wave polarization diversity applications.