Integrated Modeling and Analysis Approach for Folded Rinehart-Luneburg Lens Antenna

Rinehart-Luneburg lens antenna with feature of rotational-symmetric shape offers a wide angular range and multiple-beam capabilities. An integrated modeling and analysis approach is proposed in this paper to simplify the design of this antenna with non-parametric folded curve. An optimized Rinehart-Luneburg lens antenna working at Q-band with reduced profile is designed. The height of the designed lens has been reduced by a factor of 2.7 compared to original Rinehart-Luneburg lens. Eleven waveguides are placed at an angle of 12° provide beam scanning capability in 120° range with scan loss below 1 dB, a realized gain higher than 18.5 dBi over the whole bandwidth.