3D-printed dielectric wideband transmitarray in Ku-band

In this paper, we propose a novel three-layer perforated dielectric unit-cell for Transmitarray antennas. Starting from a configuration with a central square hole, two additional layers with linear tapered sections have been added on top and bottom of the element. The resulting unit-cell is made-up by the same dielectric, that, in the case considered here, it is a 3D-printable material with a dielectric constant of 4.4. A 30x30 elements dielectric Transmitarray, using the proposed unit-cell and working in Ku-band, has been designed and numerically analyzed using a commercial tool. The structure has been manufactured using an FDM (Fused Deposition Modeling) technique and its performances have been experimentally characterized in the anechoic chamber. The experimental results shown notable performances: the measured 1-dB Gain bandwidth is equal to the 29.5% parallel to an aperture efficiency greater than 40%.