Phase Compensation for Decoupling of Large-Scale Staggered Dual-Polarized Dipole Array Antennas

Staggered array antenna is a common array configuration for large-scale array antennas due to its favorable radiation characteristics and relatively large element spacing. In developing a compact staggered dipole array, the most challenging issue is how to simultaneously reduce the four mutual couplings taking place between adjacent co-polarized antenna elements with diversified phase laggings. A large difference in the phase of different mutual couplings makes simultaneous reduction of all the mutual couplings by applying the recently developed array-antenna decoupling surface (ADS) technique difficult. In this article, a phase compensation method by using a staple-shaped probe for alleviating the largest phase offset is proposed conceptually and verified experimentally. With the proposed phase compensation method, the ADS technique can be effectively applied to a compact staggered dipole array with a wideband simultaneous decoupling. The design guideline for the phase compensation probe is presented by EM simulation and a parametric study. Two practical design examples of dual polarized staggered dipole arrays are given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed phase compensation method in conjunction with ADS, showing a promising potential for wideband simultaneous decoupling of a large-scale dual polarized staggered dipole array-antenna.