Surface-Mounted Ka-Band Vivaldi Antenna Array

The first electrically steerable dual-polarized Ka-band Vivaldi antenna array with connector-less, surface-mount interface is developed. The antenna interface includes integrated coaxial feed lines within the antenna element structure and contact pads on the PCB. The antenna array covers the frequency range from 26 to 40 GHz with a beam steering range of approximately ±60° in the elementary planes and ±50° in the diagonal plane, having less than 3dB of scan loss. The 8times 8 antenna array is manufactured with a feeding network for one polarization, and the operation of the interface and the electrical beam steering is demonstrated. Measurements are used to characterize the manufactured feed network, the gain of the antenna array and the steering range. The measured gain is between 19 and 22dB, agreeing very well with the simulation and implying that the antenna interface operates properly. Furthermore, the antenna scan measurements agree with the simulation results. © 2020 IEEE.