64-3

DIELECTRIC-LOADED HORN FEEDS FUR RADIOMETER ANTENNA

A. Kumar AK Electromagnetic. Inc 4 5 2 Westminster Avenue Dollard-des-Ormeaux Quebec Canada HYG 1E5
Dielectric-loaded horns produce low cross-polarization and pattern symmetry over a significant band ot trequencies 11-61. These horns are simple to construct and can be used as high-performance feeds for reflector antennas. They can replace corrugated horn in radiometer antennas. When corrugated horns are used, a fairly large part ut focal plane area is occupied by the corrugations: the 2 . 5 h horns have a S h o u t e r diameter assuming very thin walls. Furthermore corrugated horns are difficult to construct at millimetre waves and they are relatively heavy. We have developed a low loss high-quality dielectric material, which can be used in space antennas 171. The real and imaginary parts of the complex permittivity are measured using a cavity regonator C81. Table 1 shows the real ( I ) and imaginary ( " I parts of the complex permittivity at 6.84. 10.65. 15.3, 1 8 . 7 , 23.8, 36.5, and 90 GHz. The radiation resistance of dielectric materials is of concern in space applications where microwave antennas are exposed to nuclear radiation of space. Dielectric materials used in satellite antennas must be able to endure the physical stress of launching and prolonged exposure to intense radiation without changing drastically in mechanical and electrical properties. The e f f e c t of nuclear radiation on electrical and mechanical properties of the material will be reported to determine its utility in space antennas.
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Figure 1 shows a 7.5 semi-flare angle dielectric-loaded horn. The dielectric material is placed against the thin wall metal cone of the horn and a thin layer of Left Koweld glue is used in the gap. A discussion on the complex permittivity of Left Koweld glue is given in ref. I 5 1 . Figure 2 shows experimental E- and H-plane patterns of the horn antenna at 15.3 GHz. The peak cross-polarization level is better than - 4 0 dB at 6.84, 10.68, 18.7, 2 3 . & , 3 6 . 5 , and 50 GHz. Computed co-polar foot-prints of a typical radiometer antenna farm are shown in Figure 3 . A detailed discussion on design, experimental and computed results will be given at the Symposium.

CH26642/88/000&1424 $1.00@19SS IEEE

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REFERENCES

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121

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C51

1 6 1 C71

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Kumar. A.. "Dielectric-lined waveguide feed," IEEE Trans. Antennas and Propagation, Vol. AP-27. 1979, pp. 279-262. Clarricoats, P. J. B., Olver, A. D., and Risk, M. S. A. S., "A dielectric loaded conical horn feed with low cross-polar radiation," Proc. URSI Symp. Electromagnetic Theory, Spain, 1983, pp, 351-354. Lier, E., "A dielectric hybrid mode antenna feed: a simple alternative to corrugated horn," IEEE Trans. Ant. and Propag., Vol. AP-34, 1986, pp. 21-29. Tun, S . M., Philippou, G. Y., and Aditya, N., "Analysis and design of rotationally symmetric dielectric loaded waveguides and horns," Proc. 5th Int. Conf. on Antennas and Propagation, Y o r k , U. K . , 1987, pp.438-442. Olver, A. D., Clarricoats, P. J. B., and Raghavan, K . , "Dielectric cone loaded horn antennas," IEE Proc., Vol. 135, Pt. H. 1988, pp. 158-162. Kumar, A., "Compact horn for earth coverage," Electron. Lett., Vol. 24, No. 14, 1988, pp. 868-869. Kumar, A., "Study on light weight dielectric materials for space applications," Research Report AK11-88, AK Electromagnetic, Inc., 1988. Kumar, A., and Smith, D. G., "The meaurement of the complex permittivity of sheet materials at microwave frequencies using a resonant window in a rectangular waveguide cavity," IEE Conf. Pub. 129, London, 1975, pp. 151-154. Kumar, A., "The complex permittivity of space approved glues," Research Report AKl5-88, AK Electromagnetic, Inc., Canada, 1988.

Table 1 Frequency, GHz

6.80 10.68 15.30 18.70 23.80 36.50 90.00

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1.14 1.15 1.15 1.16 1.18 1.22

a. 00004

a. a0006

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I
-1
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1 I

0.0

Longitude, d e g .
Fig. 3
CO-polar

f o o i t c r i n t s o f t h e qint-enna using

d i e l e c t r i c - l o a d e d horr. f e e d ( d i a n e t e r = 3 3 ) : -4 d B co?.t[Jur -* , -9 dB c o n t o u r -; -12 d9 c o n t o u r - - - - - - - -22 ; dB C O ~ U O U- . .~- a . - - . S c z l e : I r m = 2km.

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