RIDGE-WAVE-GUIDE POLARIZER WITH FINITE AND STEPPED-THICKNESS SEPTUM

This contribution presents new design dimensions for the ridge waveguide septum polarizer, Emphasis is placed first, on including the finite septum thickness in the analysis; second, demonstrating its influence on the polarizer performance; third, including a stepped approach for extremely thick septa; fourth, optimizing components without the need for additional phase-adjusting structures; acid fifth, providing the application engineer with some design guidelines. Examples for varying septum thickness and/or number of sections are given for C-, X-, R120-, Ku- and K-band applications, The analysis is based on an efficient mode-matching technique, Evolution-strategy methods are used for optimization. Both algorithms are translated into PC-operational software. Results are compared with previously published theoretical/experimental polarizer data and with a finite-element analysis, and are found to be in good agreement.