Design procedure for a distributed reactance waveguide polarizer

A simplified design procedure for a distributed reactance polarizer is presented. By loading square or round waveguides with periodically spaced reactive elements, it is possible to achieve a near-perfect 90 or differential phase shift. The simplified design procedure, predicated on the use of a large number of electrically small reactive elements, results in excellent broadband performance. Both axial ratio and return loss can be accurately predicted by relatively simple expressions. These expressions will be derived and representative measured data will be presented.