Sidelobe level reduction using Teflon for a microwave and millimetre-wave antipodal Vivaldi antenna

What is it about?

A new technique for lowering the sidelobe level (SLL) of the microwave and millimetre-wave antipodal Vivaldi antenna (AVA) has been presented in this study. The technique is based on introducing tapered-shape Teflon surrounding AVA to couple energy propagated from the antenna and produce stronger radiation in the end-fire direction and as a result, it offers wideband low SLL.

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Why is it important?

Recently, microwave and millimetre-wave imaging systems require an antenna with broadband impedance bandwidth, high gain and low sidelobe level (SLL) in the operating band of interest. Among antennas, the antipodal Vivaldi antenna (AVA) maybe a good candidate to meet the above requirements; however, some of the reported AVAs have low gain and high sidelobe levels (SLLs). In this study, a novel technique to achieve high gain and low SLLs has been presented.