Investigations of All Metal Heat Sink Dual Linear Polarized Phased Array Antenna for Ku-Band Applications

A 4x8 dual linear polarized phased array antenna, comprised of all metallic radiators serving also as heat sink, is proposed for Ku-band applications. The single radiator, with a height nearly equal to lambda/2, is shaped intuitively and fed by a stripline through a trapezium shaped balun. Two shaped radiators are placed orthogonally within a metal cavity of square cross section with overall dimension of lambda/2 x lambda/2, which constitutes the dual linear polarized radiating element. The surface waves generated due to multi-layered feed structure are supressed by using a number of vias, placed underneath each element cavity, with a period of nearly lambda/6 and diameter 12 mils. This radiating element offers wideband performance and acceptable radiation pattern with wide beamwidth is observed over the entire bandwidth while the peak gain is varying between 3-5 dBi. Inter-element spacing is chosen according to expected beam scan range of +/- 45 degree.