Ultra-Wideband and Wide-Angle Scanning Dual-Polarization Array with Compact Feeding Network

Abstract

We present an ultra-wideband dual-polarization tightly-coupled array with an integrated feeding structure and a wide-angle scanning superstrate layer. This antenna is fed by a simple microstrip-to-slotline structure, which can significantly reduce the complexity and the cost. The superstrate layer consists of two frequency selective surfaces (FSSs), which can efficiently improve the scanning angle. A small notch is cut on the dipole antenna. Then, the dual-polarization array can be obtained by embedding one polarization printed circuit board (PCB) into another polarization PCB. Finally, the dual-polarization tightly-coupled dipole array (TCDA) with 16 ×16 elements is proposed, which has a bandwidth of 3.6:1 (1.22-4.4 GHz) with and can scan its beams to ±70°, ±60°, and ±70° in the E, H, and D planes, respectively. The proposed array has advantages of ultra-wideband, wide scanning range, and easy fabrication.