Low-profile tilted-beam waveguide slot antenna using corrugations for UAV applications

Abstract

We propose a low-profile tilted-beam waveguide slot antenna using corrugations for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) applications. The proposed antenna consists of a WR-90 rectangular waveguide with a central slot on top and two asymmetric corrugations. The antenna satisfies a 10-dB return loss from 9.82 to 10.18 GHz. To realize the low-profile characteristic, the proposed antenna is fed from the flank instead of the bottom of the waveguide. In addition, the proposed antenna attains a tilted beam pointing 45 degrees from the broadside direction due to the asymmetric corrugations on the conducting plate. The antenna has a measured peak gain of 6.95 dBi at the center frequency of the operation band, which satisfies the gain requirement for UAV applications. The experimental and simulated results of the proposed antenna are in good agreement.