Preparation of Silicon Nitride Multilayer Ceramic Radome Material and Optimal Design of the Wall Structure

A study of silicon nitride ceramic radomes, which includes preparation of the material and optimal design of the radome wall structure, is presented in this paper. Multilayer radome wall structure with high dielectric constant skins and a low dielectric constant core layer is used for broadband application. As a candidate material for both the skins and core layer, silicon nitride ceramics of controlled dielectric constant in the range 3.0∼7.5 were prepared by adding different content of sintering aids such as magnesia, alumina, silica and zirconium phosphate binder and choosing suitable sintering methods. A computer aided design (CAD) for the wall structure of silicon nitride multilayer ceramic radome based on microwave equivalent network method is carried out according to design requirements. By optimizing the thickness of skins and core layer, the power transmission efficiency of such a multilayer Si3N4 ceramic radome is calculated. The calculated results suggest that when the dielectric constant of skins lies in the range 6∼7.5 and core layer in the range 3.5∼4, the power transmission efficiency is above 85% with frequency of 2∼18 GHz while the thickness of skins is less than 0.03λ and the thickness ratio of skins to core layer is less than 1:15.