S. Withington et al., A HORN-REFLECTOR ANTENNA FOR HIGH-PERFORMANCE SUBMILLIMETER-WAVE IMAGING ARRAYS, International journal of infrared and millimeter waves, 18(2), 1997, pp. 341-358
We have developed an antenna for high-performance submillimetrewave im
aging arrays. The antenna comprises a corrugated horn with an off-axis
paraboloidal reflector at its aperture. The corrugated horn is machin
ed directly into two halves of a split aluminium block. This approach
avoids electroforming and is compatible with E-plane circuit technolog
y. The resulting antenna is light weight and is ideal for space applic
ations. For compatibility with submillimetre-wave optics, the the beha
viour has been calculated by using Gaussian-Hermite modes, and the int
egrity of the theory has been verified by modelling the behaviour of a
17GHz antenna. The manufacturing procedure has been investigated by m
achining and testing a horn-reflector antenna for 450-500GHz. Our next
step is to extend the technique to 1THB.