Modeling the Performance Impact of Cubic Macro Cells Used in Additively Manufactured Luneburg Lenses

Abstract

Finite Element Analysis (FEA) is used to determine the sensitivity of feed placement on a Luneburg lens (LL) having large scale cubic discretization of its permittivity distribution. This is of practical importance for lenses fabricated using additive manufacturing, allowing accurate prediction of performance, and potentially reducing overall print time. It is shown that the far-field relative side lobe level (RSLL) is most sensitive to this form of discretization, and the impact to multi-feed and single-feed applications is considered. It is shown that for single-feed applications, large cubic macro cells are beneficial and provide a RSLL above that achieved with the continuous and non-uniform shelled counterparts.