Electrical Performance of a Dual-Band Composite Radome

• Published in: Journal of electronic materials 2024-03, Vol.53 (3), p.1436-1444
• Main Authors: Chen, Ruizhe, Tan, Tian, Liu, Zelin, Xu, Yonggang, Hou, Xinyu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aircraft; Antennas; Boresight error; Boresights; Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Chemistry and Materials Science; Composite materials; Cyanates; Design; Dielectric properties; Electronics and Microelectronics; Engineering; Extremely high frequencies; Fiber composites; Fractals; Frequency selective surfaces; Heat resistance; Horizontal polarization; Information warfare; Instrumentation; Materials Science; Optical and Electronic Materials; Original Research Article; Quartz; Radomes; Solid State Physics; Vertical polarization
• ISSN: 0361-5235; 1543-186X
• DOI: 10.1007/s11664-023-10679-1

This paper presents a high-performance dual-band radome composed of cyanate/quartz fiber composite and frequency-selective surfaces (FSS). The practical steps from FSS and radome segmented design to fabrication are presented. The transmission characteristics of the FSS plate and radome are measured using the free-space method, and the results show that the FSS achieves transmission in both Ku and Ka bands, with frequency points of 15.4 GHz in the Ku band and 33.8 GHz in the Ka band, which confirms the feasibility of the FSS and radome segmented design. After that, the electrical performance of the radome is measured. The results show that the power transmission coefficient of the radome is not less than 70% in the range of ± 40°, and the maximum value of the center frequency is greater than 85% in the Ku/Ka operating band under vertical and horizontal polarization. The boresight error (BSE) is less than 20.5′ within ± 20° of the scanning angle. These results confirm that this FSS structure has high value for application in a curved radome.