A Lightweight Spherical Generalized Luneburg Lens Antenna With Low Cross-Polarization Over a Wide Range in Azimuth and ElevationShow others and affiliations
2024 (English)In: IEEE Open Journal of Antennas and Propagation, E-ISSN 2637-6431, Vol. 5, no 1, p. 58-66Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
In this paper, a novel dual-slant polarized three-dimensional (3D) periodic Luneburg lens with a diameter of 390 mm ( $4.6\lambda{0}$ at 3.55 GHz) is presented. Copper-plated cubes with truncated corners are placed in a body-centered cubic (BCC) lattice and held together with layers of Rohacell foam. The sizes of the cubes are varied to realize the gradient refractive index (GRIN) profile of a generalized Luneburg lens at a low cost, with a low weight and loss. The designed Luneburg lens operates from 3.3 to 3.8 GHz with a total weight of 1 kg. The quasi-isotropic response of the proposed periodic structure allows a wide angle coverage. Measured results show that the lens antenna can achieve a peak gain of 22 dBi with a scanning loss of less than 0.4 dB in a wide angular range in both the azimuth and the elevation plane. Importantly, the proposed lens antenna design achieves a cross-polarization level below peak gain of less than -19 dB at all angles for the two slant polarizations of the feed, while comparable designs report up to -11 dB at given angular directions. This high-gain multi-beam antenna with a commercially viable design is suitable for wireless communications at low microwave frequencies.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) , 2024. Vol. 5, no 1, p. 58-66
Keywords [en]
Body-centered cubic (BCC) lattice, gradient refractive index (GRIN) material, multi-beam Luneburg lens antenna, quasi-isotropic periodic structure, wide angle coverage
National Category
Telecommunications
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-367131DOI: 10.1109/OJAP.2023.3332589ISI: 001167035500007Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85177081874OAI: oai:DiVA.org:kth-367131DiVA, id: diva2:1984290
Note
QC 20250715
2025-07-152025-07-152025-07-15Bibliographically approved