Double-ridged conical horn antenna for 2-18 GHz

In this article, the design and simulation of a conical double-ridged horn (DRH) antenna with high gain and low cross polarization for electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) applications are presented. Broadband pyramidal DRH antennas have been investigated in many references. The distortion of the radiation patterns at higher frequencies is the significant disadvantage of the conventional broadband pyramidal DRH antenna, and the proposed antenna improves the radiation pattern characteristics. The designed antenna has a voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) less than 2 for the frequency range of 2-18 GHz. Moreover, the proposed antenna exhibits extremely low cross polarization, low side lobe level, very high gain, and satisfactory far-field radiation characteristics in the entire operating bandwidth. A new technique for synthesizing the horn flare section is introduced. A coaxial line to the circular double-ridged waveguide transition is introduced for coaxial feeding of the designed antenna. The proposed antenna is simulated with commercially available packages, such as CST microwave studio (Sax Software Corp.) and Ansoft HFSS (Ansoft Corp.), in the operating frequency range. Simulation results for the VSWR, radiation patterns, and gain of the designed antenna over the frequency band 2-18 GHz are presented and discussed.