Broadband circular waveguide radiating element for use in phased array antennas

Numerous attempts have been made to increase the bandwidth and scan performance of circular waveguide phased array radiating elements. Here we introduce the Artificial Puck Wideband Radiator which uses a pair of metallic disks inside the circular waveguide to further enhance performance. This paper describes the analysis and design of a wideband dual/circular polarized circular waveguide radiator based on the Artificial Puck Wideband Radiator concept and shows measured element performance in a small 37 element array. This element is found to have good performance over 20% bandwidth and a 60/spl deg/ half angle scan volume and is even found to work well over 30% bandwidth and a 30/spl deg/ half angle scan volume.<>