A Simple Dual-Polarized Co-Incident Phase Center Antipodal Vivaldi Antenna Element for Airborne Telemetry Applications

Abstract

This paper proposes a wideband, dual-linear polarized, co-incident phase center Antipodal Vivaldi Antenna (AVA) for remote sensing applications within X-Ku frequency bands. This antenna specifically targets constrained size, weight, power, and cost (SWaP-C) applications by providing a simple, portable, and easy to fabricate design. Existing dual-polarized AVA consist of both coincident and non-coincident phase center elements that are electrically connected by a ground plane, but these often contain heavy mechanical support structures. A key characteristic of the proposed AVA is it enables lightweight design by implementing foam supporting structures while retaining desirable performance characteristics.