Abstract
Theory and design aspects of the Slotted Waveguide Antenna (SWA) array for the simultaneous generation of Orbital Angular Momentum (OAM) modes are proposed in this paper. The proposed method is a novel approach to OAM generation that uses a simple feeding scheme and has better performance, especially in terms of mode purity. Due to its all-metallic structure, the high-power OAM beams with first-order modes ( + 1 & - 1 ) can be generated simultaneously along the propagation axis but in opposite directions, which improves the coverage and makes the proposed SWA be used in applications like radar target detection by mounting it on a mechanically rotating platform. The proposed theory is verified by the electromagnetic (EM) simulations, followed by the experimental verification done on the laboratory prototype. The near-field characteristics of the proposed antenna confirm the generation of first-order OAM beams with high mode purity. The far-field characteristics show the high gain and quasi-omnidirectional radiation pattern. Transmission of high-power OAM beams with good far-field characteristics makes the proposed antenna mitigate the issues of long-range OAM communication to a certain extent. However, the proposed antenna can be served well in strategic applications where the mostly high-power microwave is involved.