Profiled dielectric loaded horns

The dielectric cone loaded horn consists of a central cone of solid or foam dielectric supported by a second dielectric with a metallised outer layer. The horn has low cross-polarisation over a wide bandwidth and the absence of flanges means better utilisation of the aperture area. The dielectric gives an additional method of controlling the fields in the horn. The authors investigates dielectric loaded horns with a shaped profile. They show that the profiled dielectric horn gives useful control over the performance of the horn. It can be designed in two distinct ways. Either the length of the horn can be kept the same as a linear tapered horn which will give improved electrical performance, or the length (and weight) of the horn can be reduced by comparison with the linear horn, whilst maintaining similar low levels of cross-polarisation.<>