A Novel Miniaturized Four-Ridged Horn Antenna with Enhanced Gain

Miniaturization of wideband antennas has attracted much attention for its wide application in modern society. This article proposes a novel broadband miniaturized four-ridged horn antenna (FRHA) with high gain operating from 2.6 to 8.4 GHz. By filling the FRHA with the epoxy-laminated glass cloth board, the side length of the aperture realizes 48% reduction comparing to a traditional ridged horn antenna. The cuboid-shaped polyethylene lens provides good impedance matching between the antenna and the air at low frequencies and decreases the aperture phase error at high frequencies, which optimizes the radiating characteristics in the whole operating band.