This article presents a wideband, dual-polarized antenna array with inverted BoR elements. The antenna structure is based on the conventional body-of-revolution (BoR) element, but the structure is inverted; i.e., instead of metallic cones, the elements are metalized cavities inside a dielectric block. This structure allows a more lightweight and low-cost design since all-metal parts are not needed. In addition to the inverted BoR structure, this paper proposes a feeding system that is fully integrated into a 5-mm-thick standard printed circuit board. The designed antenna operates at 2-6 GHz, providing 3:1 impedance bandwidth with an active reflection coefficient (ARC) < −10 dB. The ARC<−10 dB criterion is fulfilled for all beam-steering angles up to ±50 • in all planes. The operation of the simulated antenna array was verified by measuring a built prototype. The measurement results are in good agreement with the simulations. However, the radiation efficiency of the prototype was approximately 11% inferior than that of the conventional all-metal BoR array due to conduction losses caused by the metalization of the used dielectric.

Orthogonality of the characteristic modes with respect to the weight operator of the generalized eigenvalue equation, and in the far field, is investigated in the case of lossy conducting and dielectric objects. Linking the weight operator to radiated power is shown to provide orthogonal far fields in the lossless case. In the lossy case, both the orthogonality of the characteristic far fields and the weight operator orthogonality of the modal currents are satisfied with respect to the Hermitian inner products only for sufficiently symmetric geometries, such as a sphere. For irregular lossy shapes, independently of the symmetry of the formulation, the far-field orthogonality can be obtained only with respect to the symmetric (non-Hermitian) product. The weight operator orthogonality can be satisfied with (complex) symmetric formulations, but again only with respect to the symmetric product. Since the symmetric products are not related to any physical power quantity, the modes do not form a (radiated) power orthogonal set in the lossy case. Hence, for lossy structures CMs do not satisfy their classical definition and they need to be redefined.

Integral operator-based theory of characteristic modes (CMs) for conducting, material, and lossy structures is reviewed. CMs are defined as solutions of a generalized eigenvalue equation (GEE). These GEEs are presented for various surface and volume integral operators and material structures. Interpretation of the characteristic eigenvalues in terms of electromagnetic power is studied based on the Mie expansion and integral operator formalism. Orthogonality and diagonalizing properties of the CMs are summarized. Challenges related to dielectric-magnetic bodies, lossy structures and spurious modes are discussed, as well as differences between the surface and volume operator approaches.

The body-of-revolution (BoR) Vivaldi arrays are usually all-metal, including both antenna elements and the antenna base. However, despite the robustness and low losses of the all-metal designs, they are often heavy and expensive. In this paper, we investigate 3D-printed, dual-polarized BoR antenna elements operating at 2-6 GHz. By 3D printing the antenna elements from plastic, we can make them less expensive, hollow, and thus lightweight. The elements are made conductive by painting them with silver paint. The performance of the antenna array is evaluated with simulations and measurements. Due to the relatively low conductivity of the paint, resistive losses of the array are higher than those of the all-metal counterparts. Nevertheless, the measured total efficiency of the array is still high, 95% at the highest, which confirms the applicability of the proposed manufacturing technique. Furthermore, we compare the proposed design to a previously published inverted BoR antenna array.

This article investigates a dielectric-loaded Vivaldi-type antenna array that is formed inside a plastic block. It utilizes the inverted body-of-revolution (BoR) structure, where cone-shaped cavities are formed in a dielectric material and metalized from the inside. The metalized cavities form an array of inverted BoR elements that are fed by a single printed circuit board. In contrast to previous work, this paper uses a solid, shaped plastic block instead of foam as a dielectric material and exploits its considerably higher permittivity to reduce the height of the elements. The reduced profile provides an excellent polarization purity in the class of tapered slotline (TSL) antennas while a 3:1 bandwidth is maintained with an active reflection coefficient (ARC) ≤ −10 dB. The shaping of the dielectric block decreases the scan loss of the array and prevents detrimental surface waves. The proposed array can steer the beam up to ±50 • in all planes without exceeding −10 dB ARC. The proposed dielectric loading may be applied also to other antenna types, such as conventional BoR antennas. The excellent electrical performance and manufacturability of the array are confirmed by fabricating and measuring a prototype. antenna array, body-of-revolution, flared-notch, low-profile, Vivaldi, wideband INDEX TERMS