Mitsubishi Electric Corporation announced that it has developed a slotted waveguide array antenna made of injection-molded resin which have been demonstrated to outperform conventional patch array antenna in side-lobe characteristics, cross-polarization characteristics and electric power efficiency, as well as offer reduced weight and cost. Mitsubishi Electric’s new antenna will enable radar systems to achieve enhanced observation range and accuracy and wireless communication systems to achieve greater communication capacity and speed. The company will now begin deploying the antenna for various applications, including as weather, airport radar remote-sensing radar and satellite communications. The antenna is made with resin injection molding for reduced weight and low cost. Resin, however, is easily distorted by heat compared to metal, so resin-molding waveguide parts must be secured with screws, which require screw-holes that can degrade the antenna’s electric performance. Mitsubishi Electric solved this problem with a proprietary boss-iris structure, which incorporates small, round boss protuberances for screw holes and an iris diaphragm waveguide to adjust electrical characteristics (part of the boss and the rib structure serve as the iris).