A Wideband Conformal Array Antenna with Dual-Polarized Transmission and Reflection Element for Full-Space Beam-Scanning Capability

A wideband conformal array antenna utilizing dual-polarized transmission and reflection element is proposed. The proposed transmission and reflection element employs four-layer metal structures to obtain a larger phase coverage. To improve the bandwidth, the period is set to 0.3λ0 to smooth the phase response. The -2.0 dB bandwidths of the transmission and reflection elements are 77.0% and 190.0%, respectively. Furthermore, an all-metal monopole antenna is designed as feed structure, which utilizes two orthogonal metal cylinders to enhance the bandwidth. For high gain, the conformal array antenna is assembled in a decagonal arrangement employing five transmission panels and five reflection panels, where each panel consists of 6×24 elements. Then, a transmission-reflection hybrid phase compensation method is used to collimate a far-field beam. The beam-scanning range of 360° is achieved by mechanically rotating the relative location of the 10 panels. The measured results show that the prototype has a peak gain of 19.0 dBi. The -10 dB bandwidth and 3 dB gain bandwidth are 102.0% and 20.0%, respectively. This antenna is an attractive candidate for communication systems that require a conformal structure.