Wideband Simultaneous Dual Circularly Polarized Phased Array Subarray with Scalable Characteristics for Satellite Communications

Abstract

This paper proposes a budget-friendly, highly integrated, and low-profile wideband simultaneous dual circularly polarized phased array subarray with scalable characteristics for satellite communications. In order to achieve wideband, the antenna unit is not only fed by double-fed point probe contact, but also by electromagnetic coupling. Moreover, the dual circularly polarized radiation of the antenna unit is realized by a miniaturized 3 dB bridge-type phase-shift network. In addition, the phased array subarray uses metalized vias to reduce inter-element crosstalk, which effectively improves the active voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) and beam steering characteristics. Also, the subarray has interchangeability and versatility, enabling convenient two-dimensional expansion to form a tile-type phased array antenna. Besides, the phased array subarray can be used to achieve two-dimensional ±40∘ beam scanning in both the azimuth and elevation planes. Within ±40∘ beam scanning, the active VSWR of the subarray is less than 2.5 in 9.55 - 14.35 GHz (40.17%). At 12.1 GHz, the two-dimensional gain decreases by less than 2.1 dB and 1.95 dB, respectively. The proposed antenna exhibits good performance in terms of matching and beam steering characteristics, which make it suitable for use in future 5G/6G phased array antenna systems.