A Beam-Steerable Conformal Waveguide Slot Array Based on a Mechanical Tunable Phase Shifter

This letter proposes a novel conformal waveguide slot array with characteristics of wideband and high gain for beam scanning applications. The antenna comprises two key modules: an arc ridge waveguide mechanical phase shifter and a 4×6 conformal ridge waveguide slot array. The mechanical phase shifter dynamically rotates the SMA feeding position along concentric arc-shaped waveguides to vary the path difference of propagating waves, thereby achieving equivalent phase shift modulation and enabling the antenna with beam scanning capability in its elevation plane. Experimental results demonstrate that the measured S11 of the proposed antenna is better than -10 dB in the 4.5–5.5 GHz range. Moreover, the array demonstrates a beam scanning angle of up to 24° in the H-plane and 13° in the E-plane, with a peak gain of 22 dBi. By combining the low-cost, tunable phase control of mechanical actuation with the geometric versatility of additive manufacturing, the proposed design offers a compact, high-performance, and integrable beam steering solution, which is promising for advanced mobile communication and sensing platforms.