3D Printed X-Band Orthomode Transducer and Conical Waveguide Horn Antenna

A 3D printed X-Band orthomode transducer (OMT) is presented that is fabricated using polylactic acid (PLA) and metallized using conductive paint. The OMT employs continuous transitions to combine two orthogonally polarized WR-90 waveguides into a single circular waveguide. This OMT consists of equal length paths with high isolation that are characterized by measuring the circular polarization (CP) performance with a 3D printed conical horn antenna as well as linear far field measurements to characterize the OMT. It is fed with a 90° hybrid coupler to give both left-hand and right-hand CP. The OMT fed horn has an axial ratio of less than 3 dB for both handedness of CP, an input reflection less than -10 dB, and a peak gain flatness of less than 1 dB from 8.7 GHz to 10.7 GHz with a peak gain of 19.7 dBi at mid-band.