Ultrawideband, Wide Scanning Stripline-Fed Tightly Coupled Array Antenna Based on Parallel-Dipole Elements

Abstract

A stripline-fed tightly coupled array antenna with compact size, large scan volume and low cross-polarization characteristics is proposed for ultrawideband (UWB) applications. Simple impedance-matching process is realized by using parallel dual dipoles. Meanwhile, the parallel symmetrical radiating structures minimize the cross-polarization field components dramatically. The mitigation of various undesired resonances is studied in detail. An infinite array is designed to achieve 3:1 bandwidth (6−18 GHz) when scanning ±60∘ in the E-/D-planes (VSWR < 2.5) and H-plane (VSWR < 3.5). The cross-polarization levels remain below −29 dB at broadside. A 16 × 16 prototype is fabricated to demonstrate the design. The measured results are consistent well with the simulated ones. The overall size of the prototype at the lowest operating frequency is 3×3×0.4λ03 (15×15×2cm3). Due to its wide bandwidth, good electronic scan performance and compact size, the proposed antenna array is a good candidate for modern wireless platforms.