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The Vivaldi Aerial - P.J.gibson

The Vivaldi Aerial is a new type of antenna that provides theoretically unlimited instantaneous frequency bandwidth. It has significant gain and linear polarization over a wide bandwidth. One design achieved approximately 10 dBi gain and -20 dB sidelobe level from below 2 GHz to above 40 GHz. The Vivaldi Aerial uses a diverging slot-like structure that radiates more efficiently as the separation between conductors increases. It can be fabricated using thin film techniques on dielectric substrates and additional circuits can be integrated onto the same substrate. Measurements of one Vivaldi Aerial design showed constant beamwidth across its bandwidth from 2 GHz to over 40 GHz.

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Ismael Roberto Acevedo Pavez
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271 views5 pages

The Vivaldi Aerial - P.J.gibson

The Vivaldi Aerial is a new type of antenna that provides theoretically unlimited instantaneous frequency bandwidth. It has significant gain and linear polarization over a wide bandwidth. One design achieved approximately 10 dBi gain and -20 dB sidelobe level from below 2 GHz to above 40 GHz. The Vivaldi Aerial uses a diverging slot-like structure that radiates more efficiently as the separation between conductors increases. It can be fabricated using thin film techniques on dielectric substrates and additional circuits can be integrated onto the same substrate. Measurements of one Vivaldi Aerial design showed constant beamwidth across its bandwidth from 2 GHz to over 40 GHz.

Uploaded by

Ismael Roberto Acevedo Pavez
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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THE VIVALDI AERIAL

P. J. Gibson*

Abs tract

The Vivaldi Aerial is a new member of the class of aperiodic continuously


scaled antenna structures and, as such, it has theoretically unlimited
instantaneous frequency bandwidth. This aerial has significant gain
and linear polarisation and can be made to conform to a constant gain vs.
frequency performance. One such design has been made with approximately
10 dBI gain and -20 dB sidelobe level over an instantaneous frequency
bandwidth extending from below 2 GHz to above 40 GHz.

The radiation from microstrip structures on high dielectric constant


substrates is low and filter elements with unloaded Q-factors of greater
than 120 are readily constructed. Consequently the integration of
aerials and front-end circuits on the same substrate has in the past met
with considerable difficulties. One solution for applications up to 3%
bandwidth is the slot-line radiator as used in the 4 element linear array
of the Doppler radar with direction sense shown in fig. 1. Slot-line,
when operated under matched termination conditions, does not radiate
significantly and extensive use of slot-line techniques for microwave
circuit design has been made at Philips Research Laboratories.

The Vivaldi Aerial exploits a further property of slot line in which the
slot extends to regions where the edge separation is greater than X/2.
The main, non-resonant, travelling-wave mechanism of radiation is produced
by higher order Hankel Function (H0(n)) modes generated by waves travelling
down a curved path along the antenna. The energy in the travelling wave
is tightly bound to the conductors when the separation is very small
compared to the free space wavelength and becomes progressively weaker and
more coupled to the radiation f'ield as the separation is increased. An
early example of this effect is to be found in the Beverage [13 wire
antenna.

The requirement for gain on the Vivaldi Aerial is that the phase velocity
of the bound wave on the conductors should equal or exceed that 1in the
surrounding medium. This requires continuous phase-leading compensation
of the travelling-wave structure which is accomplished for the most part
by the substrate material, and such aerials have been constructed for
frequency bandwidths of the order 6:1. However, it has been found that
for more extended bandwidths the aerial requires further additional phase
compensation as indicated in fig. 2.
The Vivaldi Aerial has an end-fire characteristic and the beamwidth is
approximately the same in both the E and H planes. In common with other
travelling-wave structures the gain is proportional to the overall length
and also to the rate at which the energy is 'leaked away'.
* Philips Research Laboratories, Redhill, Surrey, England.

101
This new family of radiators is constructed by normal microwave
photolithographic thin film techniques on high dielelectric constant (e.g.
alumina) substrates, and other circuit elements can be printed on the
same substrate at the same time to form a complete very wideband receiver
head.
Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic representation of the general form of the physical
structure. A screened frequency-independent-balun is used to generate a
slot line quasi-TEN mode at the launch end of a diverging slot-like
guiding conductor pair that forms the radiating sections. A lower cut-off
wavelength (Xc) can be defined where the maximum separation of the
radiators at the distant end is a half-wavelength. There is not a sharp
cut-off, but at this and longer wavelengths the mechanism of radiation
reverts to a standing-wave solution and the radiation efficiency is an ever
reducing function of wavelength in a manner analogous to the half-
wavelength Biconical Antenna 2

This zero order mode could be extended to higher frequencies by


periodically loading the slot line,as shown in fig. 3,in a manner similar
to the Log-Periodic [31 wire antenna. If the conductor sheet is cut at
a constant proportion of the resonant slot length as shown by the dotted
lines in fig. 3. a forward beam can be generated with a gain of the order
of 6 dBI. However, interaction between the radiated wave and harmonically
related slots limits the frequency bandwidth to the order of 3:1.
DESIGN AND PERFORMANCE
A requirement existed for a constant-beamwidth antenna to cover the
frequency range 2 GHz to 20 GHz.
Constant beamwidth requires an aerial to have a shape that can be
completely specified in terms of dimensionless normalised wavelength units.
The curve chosen for this particular application is shown in fig. 4. It
is the exponential expansion y = ±AePX, where y is the half separation
distance and x is the length parameter. The magnification factor p
determines the beamwidth. When x is large and positive, the energy will
have left the guiding structure and the curve may be truncated; similarly
when x is large and negative the wave is tightly bound to the conductors
and little radiation takes place and truncation of the curve can again be
made. Thus the theoretical infinite limits can be made to apply to a
finite sized substrate, the highest frequency controlling the maximum
negative x dimension, and the lowest frequency controlling the maximum
positive x dimension.
The accompanying performance relates to a Vivaldi Aerial constructed on an
alumina substrate using the expression:
Y = ±0.125 exp(O.052X) (1)
for the radiating conductor slot pattern, where X and Y are dimensions
reset to a new origin at the radiator feed as indicated in fig. 4. and
have the units of millimetres.
Application of additional phase compensation (not necessary for the basic
frequency range) extended the performance to greater than 40 GHz.
Figs. 5 and 6 show respectively the beamwidth vs normalised wavelength
and the typical radiation diagram.

102
Fig. 7 is a photograph of a similar Video Receiver Module for the
frequency range 8 GHz to 40 GHz incorporating a Vivaldi Aerial and an
integrated broadband video detector circuit.
References
1. Beverage, H.H., Rice, C.W. & Kellog, E.W., The Wave Antenna, Trans AIEE
Vol. 42, p215 1923.
2. Schelkunoff, S.A. "Electromagnetic Waves", Ch. 11, p441
D. Van Nostrand Company Inc. N.Y. 1943.

3. Du Hamel, R.H. & Isbell, D.E., Broadband Logarithmically Periodic


Antenna Structures, I.R.E. Natl. Conv. Record, Pt.l, p119 1957.

Fig. 1 Doppler radar with direction sense

Fig 2 Vivaldi Aerial, general form

105
Fig. 3 Vivalid Aerial with
periodic loading

Fig. 4 Aerial expansion law


I (normalised units)
I
I
I -000

wNowriq&n
XI?
X-9l~~~~
Tlruncatiosq hint ts

ito
Fig. 5 Beamwidth vs nornalised
wavelength
et /HLA
1ICO

Q EPLane
c6Ca_> - "-
I
-- 0 r

2 4 vS9 uIt
7- Il

104
Fig. 6 Radiation diagram

Fig. 7 8 GHz to 40 GHz Video Receiver Module


(incorporating Vivaldi Aerial and integrated
broadband detector circuit)

105

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