A Low-Profile Ultra-Wideband Tightly Coupled Array with Metal Walls

This paper introduces an innovative low-profile dipole array (TCDA), featuring a wide bandwidth. The individual antenna elements are designed for direct feeding from a standard 50 Omega coaxial cable, circumventing the need for costly baluns. Additionally, to mitigate common mode resonance, a metallic wall is integrated into the array, simulating the boundary conditions of conventional dipole arrays. The design culminates in an infinite array boasting an impressive bandwidth ratio of 6.1:1 (0.68-4.17GHz) with VSWR < 4. Moreover, the antenna demonstrates robust performance across a 60 degrees scan angle from 0.61 to 3.96GHz (6.5:1) in the E-plane, maintaining a VSWR below 4. Concurrently, in the H-plane, the proposed antenna achieves a scanning span of 60 degrees from 0.7 to 2.95GHz (4.2:1) with active VSWR< 4. Remarkably, its profile remains exceptionally low at merely 0.08.low. The proposed design is distinguished by its low-profile architecture, extensive bandwidth, and wide scanning capabilities.