Design and Optimization of a Broadband Meander-Line Polarizer with Cylindrical-Aperture Integration
Authors:
Alp Emir Gürsoy, Mustafa Kuloğlu, Kamil Karaçuha
Abstract:
This paper presents a semi-analytical design framework for broadband, conformal, multilayer linear-to-circular polarization converters. Each printed meander-line sheet is represented by a frequency-dependent tensor admittance retrieved from periodic full-wave unit-cell simulations, while the intervening dielectric and spacer regions are modeled using cascaded 4 × 4 transmission (ABCD) matrices. A hybrid optimization procedure combining a genetic algorithm with gradient-based local refinement is used to synthesize multilayer configurations subject to axial-ratio and transmission constraints over a broad frequency range. The formulation is first validated against full-wave simulations using a five-layer test polarizer. A separately optimized five-layer polarizer is then conformed to and integrated with the cylindrical aperture of a test horn antenna. The integrated configuration provides a 3-dB axial-ratio bandwidth of 66.6% over 10–20 GHz, with a maximum insertion loss of 0.55 dB. The conformal implementation preserves the principal radiation patterns and provides stable polarization conversion over the antenna main beam, demonstrating the suitability of the proposed framework for broadband aperture-integrated polarization conversion.
