A wideband dual-polarized conformal phased array based on tightly coupled dipoles

Abstract

A wideband dual-polarized conformal phased array based on tightly coupled dipoles with 3:1 bandwidth is presented. Previous studies on wideband phased arrays are mainly focused on tightly coupled dipoles planar arrays. This paper reports a dual-polarized, tightly-coupled dipole 2D conformal phased array, which has much more preponderance in application. The conformal array employs a wide-angle impedance matching layer (WAIM). The simulated finite conformal array demonstrates broadside VSWR < 2 across a 3:1 bandwidth, and VSWR < 2.3 for a 3:1 bandwidth while scanning up to 60°, with cross polarization levels < −20dB, in all planes. The array height, including the WAIM, is 0.14 wavelength above the ground plane, at the lowest operational frequency, and 0.41 wavelength at the highest frequency.