A Horn Antenna Covered with a 3D-Printed Metasurface for Gain Enhancement

A simple metasurface integrated with horn antenna exhibiting wide bandwidth, covering full Ku-band using 3D printing is presented. It consists of a 3D-printed horn and a 3D-printed phase transformation surface placed at the horn aperture. Considering the non-uniform wavefront of 3D printed horn, the proposed 3D-printed phase transformation surface is configured by unit cells, consisting of a cube in the centre which is supported by perpendicular cylindrical rods from its sides. Placement of proposed surface helps to improve the field over the horn aperture, resulting in lower phase variations. Both simulated and measured results show good radiation characteristics with lower side lobe levels in both E- and H-planes. Additionally, there is an overall increment in directivity with peak measured directivity up to 24.8 dBi and improvement in aperture efficiency of about 35% to 72% in the frequency range from 10–18 GHz. The total weight of the proposed antenna is about 345.37 g, which is significantly light weight. Moreover, it is a low cost and raid manufacturing solution using 3D printing technology.