A 324-Element Vivaldi Antenna Array for Radio Astronomy Instrumentation

This paper presents a 324-element 2-D broadside array for radio astronomy instrumentation which is sensitive to two mutually orthogonal polarizations. The array is composed of cruciform units consisting of a group of four Vivaldi antennas arranged in a cross-shaped structure. The Vivaldi antenna used in this array exhibits a radiation intensity characteristic with a symmetrical main beam of 87.5 <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">°</sup> at 3 GHz and 44.2 <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">°</sup> at 6 GHz. The measured maximum side/backlobe level is 10.3 dB below the main beam level. The array can operate at a high frequency of 5.4 GHz without the formation of grating lobes.