A Parallel-Plate Lens for Mechanical Wide-Angle Beam Scanning : (Invited Paper)

This paper presents a parallel-plate waveguide lens for wide-angle mechanical beam steering. A previously developed ray-tracing procedure is used for designing the quasi-optical system. The feed system is based on gap waveguide technology enabling a simple and rapid mechanical actuation. Validation of the proposed concept is given by numerical results for a Ka-band lens design. A high scanning performance over an angular range of ± 50° with a worst-case scan loss of about 3 dB is achieved. The simulated return loss is greater than 15dB in the 27.5-31 GHz band. The proposed lens beamformer is an attractive ground-segment solution for future Satcom applications.