Journal of Radio Electronics. eISSN 1684-1719. 2025. ¹10
Full text in Russian (pdf)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.30898/1684-1719.202.5.10.9
KA-BAND CIRCULARLY POLARIZED
FEED ANTENNA MANUFACTURED USING SLM
N.O Sivov, K.V. Lemberg, K.I. Pominov, A.A. Gorchakovsky, D.A. Shabanov
Kirensky Institute of Physics SB RAS,
660036, Russia, Krasnoyarsk, Akademgorodok str., 50/12
The paper was received October 10, 2025.
Abstract. This paper presents the development of a Ka-band horn feed with an integrated septum polarizer manufactured by selective laser melting of an aluminum alloy. The study highlights specific design considerations dictated by additive manufacturing, including printing orientation, support placement, and post-processing. The influence of surface roughness on thermal losses and cross-polarization isolation is analyzed. The fabricated feed demonstrates excellent performance, achieving high port isolation (>25 dB), low reflection coefficients (better than −20 dB), and cross-polarization isolation exceeding 20 dB across the operating frequency bands. These results confirm that selective laser melting is a promising technology for producing compact and integrated microwave components with complex internal geometries.
Key words: Ka-band, selective laser melting (SLM), horn antenna, septum polarizer, circular polarization, additive manufacturing.
Financing: This work was supported by the state assignment of the Federal Research Center KSC SB RAS (scientific topic code FWES-2025-0028)
Corresponding author: Sivov Nikita Olegovich, nsivov@kirensky.ru
References
1. Helena D. et al. The use of 3D printing technology for manufacturing metal antennas in the 5G/IoT context //Sensors. – 2021. – Ò. 21. – ¹. 10. – Ñ. 3321.
2. Peverini O. A. et al. Integration of an $ H $-Plane Bend, a Twist, and a Filter in Ku/K-Band Through Additive Manufacturing //IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques. – 2018. – Ò. 66. – ¹. 5. – Ñ. 2210-2219.
3. Qian L. et al. 3-D Printed Monolithic Dielectric Waveguide Filter Using LCM Technique //2022 IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Workshop Series on Advanced Materials and Processes for RF and THz Applications (IMWS-AMP). – IEEE, 2022. – Ñ. 1-3.
4. Zárate Y. D. et al. 3D-printed low-cost choke corrugated Gaussian profile horn antenna for Ka-band //Scientific Reports. – 2023. – Ò. 13. – ¹. 1. – Ñ. 22957.
5. Agnihotri I., Sharma S. K. Design of a compact 3-D metal printed Ka-band waveguide polarizer //IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters. – 2019. – Ò. 18. – ¹. 12. – Ñ. 2726-2730.
6. Agnihotri I. 3D Metal Printed Ka-Band Waveguide Polarizer and Feed Horn Antenna : diss. – San Diego State University, 2020.
7. Baranowski M. et al. Low-Loss 3D-Printed Waveguide Filters Based on Deformed Dual-Mode Cavity Resonators //IEEE Access. – 2024. – Ò. 12. – Ñ. 78275-78285.
8. Baranowski M. et al. A circular waveguide dual-mode filter with improved out-of-band performance for satellite communication systems //IEEE Microwave and Wireless Components Letters. – 2022. – Ò. 32. – ¹. 12. – Ñ. 1403-1406.
9. Peverini O. A. et al. Selective laser melting manufacturing of microwave waveguide devices //Proceedings of the IEEE. – 2017. – Ò. 105. – ¹. 4. – Ñ. 620-631.
For citation:
Sivov N.O., Lemberg K.V., Pominov K.I., Gorchakovsky A.A., Shabanov D.A. Ka-band circularly polarized feed antenna manufactured using SLM. // Journal of Radio Electronics. – 2025. – ¹. 10. https://doi.org/10.30898/1684-1719.2025.10.9