Experimental Validation of Dual-Polarized Aluminium-based Ridged Horn Antenna

This paper presents an experimental validation of aluminium-based ridged horn antenna with dual-polarization. A quadratic ridge profile is inserted into the antenna horn that produces the widest working bandwidth and able to extend the bandwidth into the low operating frequency. Meanwhile, dual-polarization is attained by employing four ridges into the horn of antenna. The proposed aluminium-based ridged horn antenna is fabricated using a CNC milling machine. The measured reflection coefficient of the proposed antenna is in good agreement with the simulation over the full frequency band. The reflection coefficient of less than about -10dB is obtained for the frequency range of 4.4 GHz to 12.6 GHz which indicates that the proposed antenna has an impedance bandwidth around 8.2 GHz. Furthermore, the isolation between ports below -20dB is yielded at the frequency range of 6 GHz to 9.7 GHz. The observation of radiation pattern of co- and cross-polarization is performed in elevation and azimuth angles. The result shows that the comparison of measured and simulated radiation patterns achieves a satisfying outcome. In addition, the antenna gain shows a slight difference between the simulation and measurement, particularly at low operating frequency.