Opportunities and advances in ultra-wideband electronically scanned arrays

This paper discusses bandwidth and polarization challenges in modern dual-polarized ultra-wideband (UWB) electronically scanned array (ESA) aperture design and two recent solution advances aiming to remedy such issues: a 6:1 Planar Ultrawideband Modular Antenna (PUMA) array and a 10:1 Sliced Notch Antenna (SNA) array. The proposed arrays enable wide bandwidth, low cross-polarization, and high efficiency from both low-profile and high-profile array research directions to appeal to a wider variety of applications and design embodiments. The proposed UWB-ESAs are analyzed alongside a conventional 10:1 all-metal Vivaldi array to shed light upon modern design trends and implications.