Breaking the Limits: A High Performance Dual-Polarized Ultrawideband Antenna for Radar and Communication Systems

This paper presents the design of an ultrawideband (UWB) open-boundary dual-polarized quad-ridged horn antenna (QRHA) having an impressive 3-decades bandwidth from 1 to 32 GHz, making it an ideal choice for a wide range of applications in radars and communication systems. Its unprecedented bandwidth performance in a single and compact antenna geometry covers various frequency bands including L, S, C, X, Ku, and K. The ridge tapering profile of the proposed QRHA ensures excellent impedance matching, while the aperture matching prevents any phase distortion. The back-cavity design as well as cavity flaring is carefully optimized to achieve wideband performance along with no presence of pattern degradation specifically at the higher end of the frequency band. The antenna design exhibits a favorable impedance matching below -10 dB, well-matched co-polar antenna patterns in the principal planes, and good cross-polarization (exceeding -20 dB) over a 3-decades bandwidth.