High-Gain Tapered Long Slot Array in PCB Technology Integrated with PCB Based Dual-Band LP-to-CP Converter for SatCom Applications

In this communication, we presents a circularly polarized radiating antenna covering the frequency band [17–31 GHz] for K-/Ka-band satellite. The antenna is composed of two parts, a high gain linearly-polarized (LP) antenna and a dual-band linear-to-circular polarization converter (PC). The LP antenna's radiating aperture is an array of long slots, fed by a tapered corporate feed network (CFN) to reduce the sidelobe level in the radiating plane orthogonal to the slots. A pillbox beamformer is used to illuminate the CFN. This beamformer consists of an H-plane horn located in the focal plane of an integrated parabolic reflector. The polarization converter converts linearly polarized waves into circularly-polarized waves at (17-22)GHz and (28.6-30) GHz frequency bands with opposite handedness. The antenna and the polarization converter are fabricated in printed circuit board (PCB) technology. The radiation patterns are shown for the LP antenna. The PC is mounted over the antenna aperture with 10 mm separating air-gap. The reflection coefficient measurements for the antenna with and without the polarization converter are presented for 0–60 degrees scanning angles.