A compact high-gain and broad band dual-profile corrugated horn antenna

Compact, high-gain and broad-bandwidth feed antennas are in high demand for reflectors for satellite communications. In this paper, a compact corrugated horn antenna design consisting of novel sinusoidal and linear profiles is presented to achieve the aforementioned requirements. Design analysis using CST Microwave Studio and experimental validation were performed. The proposed antenna offers a high gain of 19 dBi with excellent phase centre stability over the broad frequency range of 8.5-12.4 GHz in the X band. The proposed antenna exhibits a rotationally symmetric beam with a low side lobe level of −30.8 dB, a low cross-polarization level of −30.6 dB and a phase centre located at 0.16 λ0 from the aperture in a compact length of 5.4 λ0 and a diameter of 4.2 λ0 at the design frequency of 9 GHz. Hence, this proposed antenna will be a miniaturized optimum feed for reflectors needed for satellite communications.