A 17.7-21.2 GHz Antenna Element for SATCOM Phased-Array Receiver

This article presents a wideband scalable 17.7-20.2 GHz antenna element for satellite communication (SAT-COM) phased-array receiver. The microstrip stacked-patch antenna uses an annular feeding network and two cross-shaped integrated slots and is able to receive two circularly polarized waves. A dual-layer metasurface configuration, in-cluding a 4 × 4 patch superimposed with a 2 × 2 patch, is used as the radiating patch and achieve wideband impedance matching. The enclosed metallic wall and vias are used to improve the isolation among array elements. Simulations confirm the wide bandwidth, lower feed coupling (> 12.6 dB), wide 3-dB beamwidth (~82°), minimal cross-polarization (> 19 dB), wide axial ratio versus scan angle (±700), and high port-to-port isolation (> 14.5 dB). The 1024-element array's radiation pattern simulations have validated its low sidelobes (~13.5 dB), and the array can scan to ±70° in all planes without grating lobes.