A low-cost 8 to 26.5 GHz phased array antenna using a piezoelectric transducer controlled phase shifter

A new phased array antenna of wide bandwidth and good beam scanning angle has been developed using a low cost multiline phase shifter controlled by a piezoelectric transducer (PET) and a stripline fed Vivaldi antenna array. The multiline progressive PET phase shifter has a low perturbation loss of less than 2 dB and a total loss of less than 4 dB up to 40 GHz with a maximum phase shift of 480/spl deg/. The proposed phased array antenna consists of four E- or H-plane Vivaldi antennas, a PET phase shifter, and a power divider. The phased array shows a wide beam scanning capability of /spl plusmn/27/spl deg/ over a wide bandwidth from 8 to 26.5 GHz covering X, Ku, and K bands.