Wideband Circularly Polarized Phased Array Antenna for K/Ka-Band Satellite Communication Using ME-Dipole Elements

This letter presents a new K/Ka-band circularly polarized (CP) phased array antenna (PAA) using magneto- electric dipole (ME-dipole) elements. First, a novel CP ME-dipole element is proposed, combining two technologies, namely asymmetric radiating patches and asymmetric crossed slot, to achieve a CP axial ratio bandwidth (ARBW) of 23% (24.5-31.0 GHz). Then, the PAA is formed using the sequential rotation technology to further increase the ARBW by 13% to 36% (22.5-32.5 GHz), covering the entire impdence bandwidth (IBW). This is achieved while ensuring symmetry in scanning patterns and maintaining CP purity across the entire scanning angles. The fabricated 4×4 PAA offers a wide scanning range of ±56°, ±45°, and ±41° at 22.5, 27.5, and 32.5 GHz with a scan loss of less than 3 dB. These excellent performances make the proposed PAA ideal for CP satellite communication (SatCom) terminal applications, covering the K-band (22.5-27.5 GHz) and Ka-band (27.5-32.5 GHz).