A High-Gain Antipodal Vivaldi Antenna Operating at 1 GHz to 40 GHz for Photonic-Assisted Receiver

This letter presents an ultrawideband antipodal Vivaldi antenna from 1 GHz to 40 GHz for photonic-assisted reconnaissance. The antenna's performance is enhanced through a systematic optimization progress. By embedding a director into the tapered slot, the gain and the directivity at the high frequency are significantly improved without increasing the size. By employing periodic slots and double split ring resonators around the radiators, the impedance bandwidth is effectively extended at low frequency. The optimized antenna demonstrates excellent impedance matching across L to Ka bands with a gain ranging from 4 dBi to 17 dBi. The measured results of the fabricated prototype align well with the simulated results. Furthermore, a pair of proposed antennas are implemented in a photonic-assisted system to validate the transceiving performance.