Highly integrated Filtering Antenna Array for Satellite Applications

In this letter, a broadband cavity-backed filtering antenna array based on Selective Laser Melting (SLM) printing technique is proposed. The antenna element consists of two stacked air-filled metallic cavities, one of which has two transverse slots attached on its upper surface. By simultaneously exciting two TE110 cavity modes (CMs) and one slot mode (SM), broadband performance can be obtained. Moreover, electromagnetic coupling between them is formed, leading to radiation cancellation at two edges of passband. Besides, for high gain array application, a self-supported rectangular coaxial feeding network is integrated and placed below the radiation elements. Due to the deliberate elimination of lossy substrate, the final proposed filtering antenna array can obtain a high measured gain of 19.0 dBi, with a broad bandwidth (BW) of 17.5% (16.2 to 19.3 GHz) and two radiation nulls at 15.4 and 20.4 GHz.