Wide-Angle Azimuthal Scanning Array With Elevational Scanning Ability

Azimuth wide-angle scanning is crucial for airborne applications. However, many arrays lack pitch-plane scanning due to endfire radiation patterns, where radiation from rear units passes through front units, causing mutual coupling and mismatch. To overcome these limitations, this letter presents a 2-D broadband azimuthal wide-angle scanning array antenna featuring log-periodic monopole elements, each loaded with five crescent-shaped top hats, operating in the 2.93 GHz to 4.05 GHz range with a beamwidth exceeding 150<inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$^{\circ }$</tex-math></inline-formula>. A 2 × 3 array is developed with decoupling microstrip structures based on the internal multiport method integrated between the elements. This array supports azimuthal scanning of <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\pm$</tex-math></inline-formula> 90° and elevation-plane scanning from 30° to 75°, with an active voltage standing-wave ratio (VSWR) below 3 in the 3.35 GHz to 3.58 GHz band, enhancing network coverage and communication quality.