Design of Dual Circularly Polarized Substrate

Integrated Waveguide Horn Antenna

Yang Cai1, Yingsong Zhang1, Haiping Chen2, Nan Jing3, Zuping Qian1, and Shujie Shi1
1. PLA University of Science and Technology, Nanjing 210007, China
2. Chongqing Communication Institute, Chongqing 400065, China
3. Nanjing Artillery Academy, Nanjing 211100, China

Abstract- In this paper, a compact circularly polarized (CP)

substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) horn antenna is proposed α
and investigated. Through etching a sloping slot on the common
broad wall of two SIWs, mode coupling is generated. During the
coupling process along the sloping slot, the different guide
wavelengths brings phase shift between two modes, which
provides possibility for radiating CP wave. Moreover, the two
different ports will generate the electric field components of TE01
mode with opposite direction, which indicates the compact SIW
horn antenna with dual circularly polarized property can be
realized as well. Results indicate that the proposed antenna
operates with a wide 3-dB axial ratio (AR) bandwidth of 11.8%
ranging from 17.6 GHz to 19.8 GHz.

I. INTRODUCTION
Despite of the acknowledged advantages, the traditional
waveguide horn antenna exhibits significant limitation in
practical use in millimeter-wave (MMW) and terahertz (THz)
bands. Recently, the planar H-plane horn antenna has regained
widespread researches and discussions since the proposal of
substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) technology.
Benefiting from the two-dimensional (2D) structure of SIW,
the traditional metal H-plane horn antenna can be simply
manufactured. The following researchers mainly focused on
solving the mismatch between the narrow aperture of SIW and
free space.
Dielectric-loading technology provided a simple and
straightforward solution. The extending substrate outside the
horn aperture played as an impedance transformer and the
operating bandwidth could be enhanced to 40% [1]. Through
partially detaching the broad walls, the substrate of SIW horn
antenna acted as not only an impedance transformer but also a
wave guiding structure, maintaining wide operating bandwidth
as well as realizing much size reduction [2]. In order to achieve
low profile and wide bandwidth for SIW horn antenna, parallel
plates were placed on an extended substrate and the bandwidth
was expanded to 16.7% with a thin substrate [3]. Besides,
phase-corrected technology for SIW horn antenna through
embedding metal-via arrays was proposed and its employment
to feed antipodal tapered slot antenna array was introduced in
[4].
As far as the authors’ knowledge, the previous works just
involved designing SIW horn antennas with linearly polarized
property. However, with the rapid development of modern
wireless communication, there is growing need for circularly
polarized (CP) antenna in satellite communication, radar
Fig. 1. Geometrical configuration of the proposed antenna. (a) Three
dimensional view, (b) anatomy view.
system, and etc. Moreover, a dual CP antenna can provide
options of right- and left-hand circular polarization (RHCP and
LHCP), which is very significant for miniaturized systems with
polarization diversity [5].
In the paper, inspired by the square metallic waveguide
polarizer [6], a compact wideband SIW horn antenna with dual
circularly polarized characteristic is proposed and investigated.
The remainder of the paper is organized into three sections. In
Section II, the configuration of the proposed antenna is
illustrated, followed by explaining the operating mechanism
and parameter analysis. In Section III, photograph of the
fabricated antenna is shown and measured results are compared
with simulated results. Finally, the conclusion is drawn in
Section IV.
II. ANTENNA DESIGN
A. Antenna Geometry
The geometrical configuration of the dual circularly
polarized SIW horn antenna is depicted in Fig. 1. This antenna
consists of two layers and each layer is set with a feeding port
with width of W1. An arc-corner transition with inner radius of

978-1-4673-8983-9/16/$31.00 ©2016 IEEE

 14
L1=19mm
12
L1=21mm
10 L1=23mm
L1=25mm

AR (dB)
8
L1=27mm
6

0
17 18 19 20 21 22
Frequency (GHz)
Fig. 3. Comparison of ARs at the zenith with different length L1 of sloping slot
of the proposed antenna. (W1 = 10.6 mm, α = 20°, L2 = 24 mm, R1 = 13.4 mm.
R2 = 24.5 mm, h = 4.3 mm).

14
α=14°
12 α=17°
α=20°
10 α=23°
α=26°

AR (dB)
Fig. 2. Illustration of electric field propagation fed by port 1 involving odd and 8
even mode analysis. 6

4
R1 and outer radius of R2 is adopted to ensure a wide operating
bandwidth. A metal plate lies in the middle of two substrates, 2

which constitutes the common broad wall for the top and down 0
17 18 19 20 21 22
SIWs. A right-triangular-shaped slot is etched on the common
Frequency (GHz)
broad wall. Through a transition with a length of L1, the
Fig. 4. Comparison of ARs at the zenith with different flare angle α of the
sloping slot ends at the input aperture of horn. The radiating proposed antenna. (W1 = 10.6 mm, L1 = 23 mm, L2 = 24 mm, R1 = 13.4 mm. R2
horn is placed at the end of the polarizer with length of L2 and = 24.5 mm, h = 4.3 mm).
flare angle of α. 16
L2=18mm
It should be noted that the narrow walls of the arc-corner 14 L2=21mm
transition can be realized through perforating metallic vias, 12
L2=24mm
L2=27mm
saving for the planar polarizer and the horn part. In order to
10 L2=30mm
support the propagation of TE01 mode field while achieving a
AR (dB)

8
wide bandwidth, the narrow walls supporting the propagation
of TE01 mode should be continually metallized instead of 6

metallic vias. For demonstration purposes, all the structures are 4

constructed on a substrate with h=4.3 mm and εr=2.2. 2

B. Mechanism Analysis 0
17 18 19 20 21 22
The reason for exciting CP wave in stacked two-layer SIW Frequency (GHz)
can be explained by odd and even mode analysis [6]. When Fig. 5. Comparison of ARs at the zenith with different length L2 of horn of the
port 1 is excited, the input field can be decomposed into an odd proposed antenna. (W1 = 10.6 mm, α = 20°, L1 = 23 mm, R1 = 13.4 mm. R2 =
24.5 mm, h = 4.3 mm).
mode and an even mode fields, respectively, as shown Fig. 2.
On one hand, for even mode excitation, the electric fields in
description. The field component in even mode is kept
with the same direction will not generate coupling effect and
unchanged while the directions of currents are just reversed in
the waves will propagate in their original TE10 mode. On the
odd mode. It is not difficult to find that the rotation direction of
other hand, for odd mode excitation, the currents flow in the
the electric field in the horn antenna fed by port 2 will be
same direction will cause mode coupling between two SIWs
contrary to that fed by port 1. Therefore, dual CP property can
and electric field in horizontal plane is gradually induced.
be realized for the proposed antenna when a different feeding
Above all, different guide wavelengths brings phase shift as
port is selected.
well [6]. Finally, through transition in the planar polarizer, the
condition for radiating CP wave is basically satisfied. C. Parameter Study
Moreover, when port 2 is excited instead, the principle for Since the working principle has been explained clearly
realizing CP property is similar to the aforementioned above, a dual CP SIW horn antenna with desired performance
 90 90
120 60 120 60
-10 -10

150 -20 30 150 -20 30

180 0 180 0

210 330 210 330

Simulated LHCP Measured LHCP Simulated LHCP Measured LHCP
Simulated RHCP Measured RHCP Simulated RHCP Measured RHCP
240 300 240 300
Fig. 6. Photograph of the proposed antenna 270 270
0
(a) (b)
-5 Fig. 8. Simulated and measured radiation patterns at 18.7 GHz of port 1, (a) xy
Simulated |S11| Measured |S11|
plane, (b) yz plane.
Simulated |S22| Measured |S22|
Reflection Coefficients (dB)

-10 12 10

-15
10
8
-20
8
-25 6

Gain(dBi)

AR(dB)
6
-30 Simulated Gains Measured Gains
Simulated ARs Measured ARs 4
-35 4

17 18 19 20
Frequency (GHz)
Fig. 7. Reflection coefficients of the proposed antenna.
could be researched through optimizing the related parameters.
The CP performance of the proposed antenna is mainly
determined by the length L1 of the sloping slot, the flare angle
α, and horn length L2. Since L1, α and L2 are key parameters of
the antenna, the AR performance of the proposed antenna are
significantly affected by the three parameters, as shown in Fig.
3-5. Therefore, the values of L1, α and L2 should be carefully
optimized to achieve desired results.
III. SIMULATED AND MEASURED RESULTS
The optimization of the proposed antenna is carried out with
simulation software HFSS and the optimized parameters are
listed as, W1 = 10.6 mm, R1 = 13.4 mm, R2 = 24.5 mm, L1 =
25.7 mm, L2 = 23.7 mm, α = 20°, and h = 4.3 mm. In order to
validate the proposed design, a prototype is fabricated and
measured, as shown in Fig. 6. Moreover, considering thickness
of the substrates, waveguide feeding method is adopted.
Fig. 7 shows the reflection coefficients of two different ports.
It is shown that in the frequency range from 17 to 22 GHz, the
reflection coefficients of two ports are both below -10 dB and
despite the asymmetry of antenna configuration for different
ports, the results exhibit much similarity.
Considering symmetry of the two feeding ports, only the
results excited by port 1 are given. The radiation patterns at
18.7 GHz are depicted in Fig. 8. Moreover, the measured on-
axis discrimination between LHCP and RHCP patterns is better
than -18 dB and this antenna maintains reasonably good
polarization discrimination at main radiation direction as well.
Far field performances versus frequency at the zenith are
calculated in Fig. 9. Measured gain of the antenna varies from
21 22 2
2
0 0
17 18 19 20
Frequency(GHz)
Fig. 9. Gains and axial ratios at the zenith versus frequency.
8.1 to 10.3 dBi over the frequency band from 17.6 to 19.8 GHz.
Measured axial ratio of the antenna over the band is below 3
dB. Good accordance is observed between simulated and
measured results.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This work was supported in part by the National Science
Foundation of China under Grant 61271103 and Grant
61401506, and in part by the Open Project of State Key
Laboratory of Millimeter Waves, Southeast University China
under Grant K201505.
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