Ultra-Wide Band Variable Linear Polarization Rotator With High Cross-polarization Discrimination For Scanned Beams

The design and performance of an ultra-wide band (UWB) variable linear polarization (LP) rotator with high cross-polarization discrimination (XPD) for wide azimuth scanned beams are presented here. The rotator is a cascade of two UWB 90° meanderline polarizers (MLP) and a double linear grid layer. This device is placed in front of a dual-polarized phased array to convert either the vertical or horizontal polarized scanned beam into one with arbitrary polarization. Worst case XPD observed at 45° scan with 45° polarization rotation angle is more than 35 dB.