A Compact Receive Module in 3-D Printed Vivaldi Antenna

Using a combination of 3-D printing and thin-film processes, a compact microwave front-end module is designed and fabricated. An ultrawideband Vivaldi antenna with a structurally embedded receive module is demonstrated. The receive module is placed in a packaging cavity that is formed in the unused region of the antenna structure. The measurements of this 3-D printed system are compared to a traditional ridged horn antenna with an identical receive module. This novel system-on-antenna (SoA) front-end module shows 5-dB more receive power compared to the ridged horn antenna-based design. Integrated transmit and receive modules play a critical role in the overall cost and performance of phased-array systems, and the process presented demonstrates an emerging technique for meeting these challenges.