Compact Cylindrical X-band Luneburg Lens Antenna Design

Luneburg lens antenna is one of the promising candidates for beam scanning applications. However, the bulky size of the conventional Luneburg lens makes it less practical for wireless communication systems, especially at lower frequencies. This manuscript proposes a compact cylindrical Luneburg lens antenna with a diameter of 95.9 mm (3.2 wavelengths at a central frequency of 10 GHz) which can be used instead of a spherical Luneburg lens. The proposed lens is designed by placing concentric hollow cylinders with optimized thickness and permittivity values without any air gaps with a rectangular waveguide as a feed. Simulated results show that the designed cylindrical Luneburg lens antenna can operate over the X-band with a peak gain between 15-18.5 dBi.