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Accurate design method for optimum gain pyramidal horns

K.T. Selvan
The hom synthesis problem is formulated in terms of a fourth degree polynomial. Explicit analytical formulas are subsequently derived for the accurate design of standard gain pyramidal hom antennas. These formulas do not need the application of iterative techniques, unlike existing methods, are simpler to use, and are not restricted to high-gain hom design.

From eqn. 3, a, = GA2/6.464b, = g/b,. By using this substitution in eqn. 6 and after multiplying the resulting equation by -2b: 13, we obtain the following quartic equation:

Introduction: Optimum gain pyramidal horns are widely used as

primary gain standards since their gains are calculable to within 0.1 dB from their known dimensions. The procedure for designing these horns as described in [1, 2 1 applies to long, high-gain horns only and requires the design equation to be solved iteratively by trial and error. Because the number of iterations and accuracy requirements are directly related, the procedure is obviously somewhat cumbersome. The improved synthesis method described in [3] avoids the long-horn approximation, but retains the iterative method for solving the design equation. Avoiding the long-hom approximation and formulating the design problem in terms of a fourth-degree polynomial, or a quartic equation, in this Letter explicit analytical formulas for the accurate design of standard gain pyramidal horn antennas are presented.

2 (7) 3 This is the optimum gain pyramidal horn design equation. A laborious analytical solution is available for the roots of quartic equations, for example in [5]. Briefly, the steps in finding out the solution consist in first forming and finding the real root of a cubic resolvent. By making use of the real root of the cubic equation thus obtained, two quadratic equations are subsequently formed. The four roots of these two quadratic equations are the roots of the quartic equation. In the present case of pyramidal horn design, however, it can be shown following the above steps that the fourth degree design equation (eqn. 7) has a simple solution. Being a problem of physical design realisation, it has just one positive real root. This real root, the final result of which is given in the following, gives the narrow aperture dimension b,. The estimation of other design parameters would easily follow.
b;' - bby
- -g2 = 0
Design formulas: The narrow aperture dimension of the horn, as

2 + -gbl 3

obtained by solving eqn. 7, is given by

where
21

= -b +
2

/F

(9)

with

Fig. 1 H-plane dimensions of pyramidal horn

Basic design equation: An optimum gain pyramidal horn is one that produces maximum far-field gain for given E- and H-plane slant lengths. With reference to the H-plane dimensions a, a,, ph, I2

and lh of a pyramidal hom displayed in Fig. 1 (the corresponding E- plane dimensions are b, b,, pe, 1, and le), the aperture dimensions of such a horn are approximately given by [l]

GX2 6.464 Once b, is calculated, the other parameters can be determined as 'follows:
g=ai = g/bi

(15)

al=J3XIh b l = a (1) where h is the wavelength. At the points of maximum gain, the normalised path errors in the E- and H-planes are, respectively, s = 0.25 and t = 0.375. By using the well-known gain expression [4], the optimum gain is then given by G = -32a1b1R E ( s = 0 . 2 5 ) R ~ (= t 0.375)
7rx2

(2)

or

It may be noted that these formulas do not make the long-horn approximations, namely 1, = 1, and l2 =: &,, and as such are not restricted to high-gain horn design.
Design examples: We now use the design formulas presented in this Letter and synthesise two example optimum gain pyramidal horns. (i) In the L-band (1.1-1.7GHz), a gain of 15.93dB is required at 1.4GHz. The feeding waveguide inner dimensions are a = 1 6 . 5 ~ ~b 1= , 8.3cm. By using eqns. 8 - 17, the design parameters, in centimetres, are a, = 60.1952, b, = 46.2299, 1, = 54.9648, lh = 63.8974. The gain of the designed horn, as calculated following [6], is 16.089. The actual gain and the designated gain thus differ by 0.159dB in this case. (It may be noted here that a commercially available standard gain horn in this band has 10 and 30 accuracy limits of H.17dB and M.5dB, respectively.)

Referring to the geometry in Fig. 1, we have

For a physically realisable horn, p , = ph. Then, by inserting eqn. 1 into eqn. 4, we obtain, for an optimum gain pyramidal horn,

or

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(ii) In the Ka-band (26.440GHz), a gain of 24.58dB is required at 34GHz. The feeding waveguide inner dimensions are a = 0.7cm, b = 0.4cm. By using eqns. 8 - 17, the design parameters, in centimetres, are a, = 6.5628, b, = 5.2686, 1, = 15.9487, lh = 16.5985. The gain of the designed horn, as calculated following [6], is 24.604dB. This value agrees quite well with the designated gain.

pression of the parasitic slotline mode of the CPW [5]. The proposed antenna is realised and treated both theoretically and experimentally. The obtained results are presented and discussed in the following.

Conclusions: Explicit analytical formulas have been presented for the accurate design of standard gain horn antennas. These formulas, apart from ensuring design accuracy, are easy to use and require less time than conventional methods. They would facilitate easier and quicker estimation of tolerances required in horn fabrication, as no iterations are involved in solving the design equation.
Acknowledpent: S. Selvan is thanked for showing a keen interest in the work and checking the equations.

0 IEE 1999 20 November 1998 Electronics Letters Online No: 19990240 DOI: 10.I049/el:I 9990240 K.T. Selvan (SAMEER - Centre for Electromagnetics, 2nd Cross, CIT Campus, Taramani, Madras - 600 113. India)

E-mail: scem@giasmdOl .vsnl.net.in

References
1 2
3
LOVE, A.W. in JOHNSON, R.C. (Ed.): Antenna engineering handbook (McGraw-Hill, New York, 1993), 3rd edn., Chap. 15 BALANIS, C.A.: Antenna theory - analysis and design (Harper & Row, New York, 1982), Chap. 12 HAWKINS, D.c.: Improvements to synthesis of waveguide horns, Electron. Lett., 1992, 28, (9), pp. 879-881 SCHELKUNOFF, s.A.: Electromagnetic waves (Van Nostrand Rheinhold, New York, 1943), p. 364 ABRAMOWITZ, M., and STEGUN, LA. (Eds.): Handbook of mathematical functions with formulas, graphs and mathematical tables (Dover, New York), 9th edn., pp. 17-18 MAYBELL, M.J., and SIMON, P.s.: Pyramidal horn gain calculation with improved accuracy, IEEE Trans., 1993, AP-41, (7), pp. 884889

Antenna design: Fig. 1 shows the design of the proposed antenna. The antenna is realised on an alumina substrate, E, = 9.9, with 500p1-1thickness. A l o p thick film of BCB, E, = 2.7, is deposited on the substrate. This layer serves as an intermediate layer which carries the metal bridge on top of it. Via holes are drilled through the thin film to connect the bridge to the required locations on the CPW, see Fig. 1 . This technology is called MCM-D technology and offers a cost effective and mechanically stable way for suppressing the slotline mode of the CPW [5]. This suppression is essential for asymmetric structures with respect to the CPW, as in our case, because it eliminates the power leakage to the unwanted mode. The two slots of the CPW are split just after the thin film bridge and connected to the aperture antenna. The electric path difference between the two slotlines is kJ4, where 1 , is the guided wavelength of the slotline mode at the resonance frequency. This feeding mechanism excites the two orthogonal modes of the aperture antenna with 90 phase shift, which results in the required circular polarisation operation. Since the feeding CPW is barred under the thin BCB film, contact pads are deposited on the top of the BCB and connected to the CPW through via holes, see Fig. 1. Thin metal films, 2 p thick, of copper and titanium, Ti/CwTi, are used to realise the antenna. An on-wafer probe of 200p1-1 pitch is used to feed the antenna. A printed taper is placed between the contact pads and the CPW in order to accommodate the probe pitch to the CPW pitch. This taper is de-embedded from the measurement results using appropriate calibration standards.

4
5

Circularly polarised aperture antenna fed by CPW and built in MCM-D technology
E.A. Soliman, S. Brebels, E. Beyne and G.A.E. Vandenbosch
A new design for a circularly polarised aperture type antenna fed by a coplanar waveguide, is introduced. The antenna has been built in MCM-D technology which offers an easy way to reduce the leakage to the slotline mode of the CPW. The proposed antenna has been studied both theoretically and experimentally. The results show that the antenna has both a high impedance and high circular polarisation bandwidths. It is designed to operate around 25.5GHz. Retum loss, axial ratio, and radiation patterns are presented and briefly discussed.
Introduction: Planar antennas are interesting candidates for a variety of applications owing to their low mass, the simplicity of their manufacture, and conformity to the supporting structures. Several transmitting or receiving systems are required to operate with circular polarisation. Obtaining a circular polarisation depends mainly on exciting two orthogonal modes with equal magnitude and 90 phase shift. This could be achieved using either a single feed [l, 2 1 or dual feed [3]. The single feed is easier to manufacture, while it shows smaller axial ratio bandwidth. Unlike microstrip type antennas, aperture type antennas provide higher impedance bandwidth [4]. In this Letter, an aperture type antenna fed by coplanar waveguide, CPW, is introduced for the first time. The single CPW feed is split into two slotlines which are used to dual-feed the aperture. The proposed antenna is built in the MCM-D technology which has been demonstrated to be suitable for coplanar technology as it provides an easy method for the sup-

via hole,

/ bridge

section A

- A
m

Fig. 1 Geometry of proposed antenna

0

--

22

23

24

25 26 frequency,GHz

27 :6D9RI

28

Fig. 2 Return loss and axial ratio against frequency

_ _ - _ measurements

0,

simulation

250

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