High performance lens horn antennas for the millimetre bands

The design aim was to produce high performance directional microwave antennas, of gains greater than 32 dBi in the 38, 55 and 58 GHz link bands. A wide range of antennas were studied, and the final choice was for the metal cone fitted with a biconvex dielectric lens that is matched at the air to dielectric interfaces. The antenna meets the sidelobe performance with highly efficient effective area, the absorption loss in the dielectric lens marginally reduces the gain but does not narrow the beamwidth. The units are reliable and robust, production methods give highly repeatable excellent microwave performance. The antennas can be equally incorporated within a housing or used alone. Lens horn antennas are well suited for the millimetre bands. Antenna performance data are tabulated and radiation patterns are shown