A Dual-Band X/Ku Copolarized Shared-Aperture Waveguide Slot Antenna

• Published in: IEEE antennas and wireless propagation letters 2024-12, Vol.23 (12), p.4418-4422
• Main Authors: Sun, Fukun, Wu, Xian, Ou, Naiming, Luan, Yuchen, Yu, Weidong
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Airborne radar; Antenna arrays; Antenna design; Antennas; Aperture antennas; Banded structure; Confined spaces; Design optimization; Dual band; Electromagnetic waveguides; Impedance matching; Linear antenna arrays; Linear arrays; Modular design; Modular systems; Radar arrays; Radar equipment; Radiation; shared-aperture antenna; Slot antennas; Superhigh frequencies; Synthetic aperture radar; waveguide slot antenna; Waveguides
• ISSN: 1536-1225; 1548-5757
• DOI: 10.1109/LAWP.2024.3450117

In this letter, a dual-band X/Ku copolarized shared-aperture waveguide slot antenna is proposed. The frequency ratio is 1.4:1. Both frequency bands utilize broadside longitudinal slots for radiating. To achieve a shared-aperture design for the dual-band waveguide arrays within a confined space, structural optimization is primarily conducted on the linear array for the lower frequency band. Based on the design of the X-band radiation waveguide, longitudinal slots distribution at the center of the broadside achieves consistent feeding phase, which further facilitate the design of the X-band linear array within a limited width of only 0.13\lambda _{0}. The proposed shared-aperture antenna exhibits good impedance matching and radiation characteristics. Furthermore, the proposed antenna features a modular design, which is advantageous for flexibly changing the scale of the antenna array as needed. Due to the abovementioned characteristics, the proposed antenna array is a promising candidate for airborne and spaceborne synthetic aperture radar systems, especially for those that require simultaneous operation in different frequency bands.