Profiled hard metamaterial horns for multi-beam reflectors

A profiled hard meta-horn design was presented for use in multi-beam reflectors. These horns demonstrated improved aperture efficiency compared to existing meta-horn designs by producing a more constant phase distribution across the aperture. For a specific multi-beam reflector application, hard circular and hexagonal meta-horns were shown to produce better directivity and C/I on average than potter and multi-mode horns. In this analysis, the same beam layout and feed geometry was used for each of the horns, and they were optimized specifically for multi-mode horns. To determine the full benefit of the meta-horns, the beam layout and array geometry should be optimized for each of the horn types individually.