Design of a Wide-angle Scan, X-band, digital array radar antenna

This paper presents the design of an X-band 8×8 digital array radar antenna with aperture-coupled stacked patch antenna elements. The use of a resonant aperture and stacked patches resulted in a -10 dB reflection coefficient bandwidth of 7.6-12.8 GHz (51%). Scan angles up to ±80 have been achieved for certain frequencies and ±55 for a frequency band of 8-8.50 GHz. The array has been built using low loss materials leading to a radiation efficiency of 97%. Backwards radiation and wave propagation in the substrate have been reduced by using a ground shield and via cages around the apertures. The antenna has been designed and analyzed using the Ansys HFSS analysis software.