Design of the New Wideband Vivaldi Feed for the HERA Radio-Telescope Phase II

Abstract

This paper presents the design of a new dual-polarised Vivaldi feed for the Hydrogen Epoch of Reionization Array (HERA) radio-telescope. This wideband feed has been developed to replace the phase I dipole feed, and is used to illuminate a 14-m diameter dish. It aims to improve the science capabilities of HERA, by allowing it to characterise the 21-cm hydrogen signal from the Cosmic Dawn as well as from the Epoch of Reionization. This is achieved by increasing the bandwidth from 100 -- 200 MHz to 50 -- 250 MHz, optimising the time response of the antenna - receiver system, and improving its sensitivity. This new Vivaldi feed is directly fed by a differential front-end module placed inside the circular cavity and connected to the back-end via cables which pass in the middle of the tapered slot. We show that this particular configuration has minimal effects on the radiation pattern and on the system response.