The Folded Horn Antenna Everett

Antennas for radiating high-power mesoband electromagnetic signals are critical to the mission of upsetting electronics at a distance. High Power Microwave (HPM) weapons require efficient antennas that can fit into a small volume. Many of the existing antennas, such as pyramidal horns, are too large to fit onto many platforms when operated at low frequency. To address this problem, we investigate the folded horn, which has aperture dimensions of 0.5 X 2 wavelengths, and a depth of 1.5 – 2 wavelengths. This antenna has a nearly focused aperture field, due to a parabolic fold in the H-plane. We built and tested a folded horn at 3 GHz. We found a gain of 10 dB, an aperture efficiency of 80%, and a bandwidth that ranged from 3-5 GHz. This design could be adapted to high-voltage designs, and it could work well in a dualantenna configuration, with two antennas positioned back-to-back, driven by a dual-output source. It may also be applicable to other applications and frequency ranges.