Dual-Polarized Tightly Coupled Array With Substrate Loading

A dual-polarized, tightly coupled dipole array (TCDA), delivering 13.1:1 bandwidth, is presented. The array incorporates a resistive sheet (R-Card) in the substrate to suppress resonances within the operational band and employs a dielectric layer as a superstrate to maintain high efficiency. The simulated infinite array demonstrates broadside VSWR -2.2 is dB across all frequencies and scanning angles. An 8×8 prototype was fabricated and tested to validate the design. Measured array gain and mid-band and high-frequency patterns for the two principal scanning planes are presented, demonstrating good agreement with the respective simulations.