A 3D-Printed Coaxial-fed Waveguide 2-Slot Array for an AESA Radar Application in the Ku-band

In this work, a coaxial-fed waveguide 2-slot array operating in the Ku-band is proposed. This array is designed with the aim to use it as a subarray for an Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA). Two versions differing by the slot spacing are investigated. Both versions are manufactured using an SLA (Stereo-Lithography Apparatus) 3D-printing technique followed by chemical deposition steps for the metallization. The arrays measured radiation performances are in good agreement with the simulated ones with a realized gain reaching 9 dB. As an application, these arrays are introduced as subarrays for 24-ports phased array antennas. The simulation results for the in-axis radiated beams are presented as well as the steered beams in the directions θ = 10°, θ = 20° and θ = 30° in both the H-plan and the E-plan. For the array built with the first subarray version, the in-axis realized gain reaches 23.2 dB and decreases of 2.6 dB for a beam-steering of 30° in the E-plan and of 4.1 dB for a beam-steering of 20° in the H-plan. For the array built with the second subarray version, the in-axis realized gain reaches 23.7 dB and decreases of 2.1 dB for a beam-steering of 30° in the E-plan and of 5.5 dB for a beam-steering of 20° in the H-plan.