A Compact and Wide Beam Radiating Element for Electronically Steered Array Antenna

This paper discusses the design, simulation, optimization, and development of a wide-beam, rugged radiating antenna element at L-band frequencies. The antenna has been designed in radial horn configuration. The antenna consists of an L-shaped radiating element with two flared metallic walls to obtain a wide beamwidth. The half-power beamwidth of the designed antenna is approximately 117° in the E-plane- and 320° in the H-plane, respectively. The measured VSWR of the antenna over the frequency band of 1040 MHz to 1240 MHz is 1.85:1. The measured gain of the designed antenna is 1.88 dBi at 1100 MHz. The designed antenna has a size reduction of ~50 % compared to the conventional antenna. Owing to wide beamwidth, the designed radiating element can be used for the realization of the electronically steered antenna with ± 55° beam steering with a scan loss of 3 dB.