Multiparametric Design of an All-Metal, Broadband, Slant Dual-Polarized Vivaldi Array Antenna

Abstract

An all-metal, broadband, dual-polarized Vivaldi array antenna was designed and fabricated. The structure of the proposed antenna comprised a resonant cavity and tapered fins that contacted the ground plane directly, allowing the connection of a balun and tapered fins and reducing the antenna length. To extend the frequency range, the resonant cavity width is larger than half the aperture length, and the tapered fins have nonuniform thickness. The proposed Vivaldi array antenna is designed based on parametric studies. The gains of the active element and array ranged from -2.9 dBi to 6.4 dBi and 14.9 to 23.5 dBi in the frequency range of 2–6 GHz. The proposed array antenna exhibited beam steering capability up to 45° along the azimuth and 25° along the elevation angle directions. Since the measured results and simulated predictions were in good agreement, the proposed array antenna would be applicable for a broadband, wide-beam steering system with different polarization requirements.