A 3-D printed multibeam spherical lens antenna with 2-D ultrawide-angle coverage is presented in this letter. The two-layer spherical dielectric lens can be fabricated easily by 3-D printing technology based on the effective medium theory. The circularly polarized U-slot patch antenna is introduced as the feed for the spherical lens due to its good radiation performance and compact configuration. The 2-D beam scanning can be achieved by switching the multiple feed elements, which are positioned around the spherical lens. Experimental results indicate that the −10 dB impedance and the 3 dB axial ratio (AR) bandwidth is over 7.7to 8.2 GHz, and the isolation between the adjacent feeds is higher than 20 dB. The 46 stable radiating beams are able to achieve a beam coverage of 360° of in the azimuth plane and almost 90° in the elevation plane.

中文翻译：

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具有超广角覆盖范围的3D打印多光束球面透镜天线

这封信介绍了具有2-D超广角覆盖范围的3-D打印多光束球面透镜天线。基于有效介质理论，可以通过3D打印技术轻松制造两层球形介电透镜。由于其良好的辐射性能和紧凑的结构，圆极化U形缝隙贴片天线被引入作为球面透镜的馈源。二维光束扫描可以通过切换位于球形透镜周围的多个馈电元件来实现。实验结果表明，-10 dB阻抗和3 dB轴向比（AR）带宽超过7.7至8.2 GHz，相邻馈源之间的隔离度高于20 dB。46条稳定的辐射束能够在方位角平面内达到360°的光束覆盖范围，在仰角平面内几乎达到90°的光束覆盖范围。