Additively Manufactured Circular Polarized V-Band Phased Antenna Array

Due to the demand for inter-satellite V-band communication between CubeSats, a circular polarized phased shifted <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$1 \times 4$</tex> horn antenna array was designed. The whole structure includes two parts, the <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$1 \times 4$</tex> linear polarized horn antenna array, manufactured with Selective Laser Sintering - Fine Details Resolution (SLS-FDR) technology, and a circular polarizer that was manufactured with Projection Micro Stereolithography (P <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$\mu$</tex> SLA). With the help of waveguides of different length, the antenna array could be measured at a phase difference of 120°. They serve as placeholders and are included to be replaced by liquid crystal (LC) phase shifters in later application. The beam steering angle of the <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$1 \times 4$</tex> antenna array reached 10° and 11°. The measured axial ratios (AR) at the two steering angles are 2.84 dB and 3.61 dB.