An asymmetric feeding X-band active frequency-scanning leaky-wave antenna

An asymmetric feeding X-band active leaky-wave antennas is developed, to excite the first high order mode of the microstrip leaky wave antenna. One is the asymmetric feeding leaky-wave antenna which integrated with a HEMT oscillator, and the other is the frequency-tuned leaky-wave antenna which integrated with a varactortuned HEMT VCO. The microstrip leaky-wave antenna is operated in the first higher mode. To excite the first higher mode, the microstrip leaky-wave antenna is fed asymmetrically. The dominant mode excitation has been successfully suppressed by adding a sequence of covered wire in the center of the microstrip leaky wave antenna. The design of these active leaky-wave antennas is discussed and the beam scanning phenomena of the antenna is presented. The HEMT oscillator frequency is controlled by tuning the varactor DC bias and the beam scanning is demonstrated. The measured scanning angle agree with prediction, it is close to 30° as the VCO frequency tuned from 8.06 GHz to 9GHz.     

基于特异材料微带漏波天线辐射特性研究

分析复合左右手特异材料微带漏波天线的辐射原理,建立复合左右手材料微带漏波天线仿真模型,通过仿真计算得到微带漏波天线的辐射特性。制备与仿真参数相同的实物天线,测量天线S参数、方向图和天线各单元电容瞬态电压。最后,对仿真试验结果和实物天线测量结果比较,吻合较好。在固定工作频率下,复合左右手特异材料微带漏波天线工作在左手区时,电磁波辐射主要发生在天线结构前几个单元,且电磁波以指数形式快速衰减,工作在右手区时,电磁波沿整个天线辐射,且电磁波衰减较慢。     

Resonant type leaky-wave antenna using image NRD guide

A novel leaky-wave antenna constructed from an image non-radiating dielectric waveguide (INRDG) is presented. Unlike conventional leaky-wave antennas, the broadside radiation is realised by utilising the resonant characteristic of the leaky INRDG waveguide mode. Experimental results measured at Ku band confirm the effective performance of the antenna.     

Novel modal properties and relevant scanning behaviors of phased arrays of microstrip leaky-wave antennas

In this work, different previously unexplored features are investigated for the radiation performance of linear phased arrays based on printed-circuit leaky-wave antennas for microwave and millimeter-wave applications. By means of a rigorous modal analysis in the unit cell based on the spectral-domain approach, we have considered the beam-scanning properties of microstrip leaky-wave arrays in terms of spatial harmonics, as a function of both the phase shift and the spacing between the radiating microstrip lines. We have thus found and interpreted in a consistent way various original characteristics, such as transition regions between leaky-wave and surface-wave regimes, and the occurrence of spurious radiation (grating lobes) in largely spaced arrays related to the presence of new, additional complex improper modes. Numerical full-wave simulations of the radiation patterns for realistic configurations of microstrip arrays confirm the theoretical predictions made on the basis of the modal properties of the involved leaky waves.     

Radiation from cylindrical leaky waves

Formulas are derived for the far-infrared radiation pattern of cylindrical leaky waves propagating on a planar surface. The formulas can be used to predict the radiation pattern of a general class of leaky-wave antennas, consisting of a finite-size source which excites a radially propagating leaky wave on some planar surface. Leaky-wave antennas consisting of antenna elements embedded in dielectric layers (microstrip elements) fall into this category. Using the equivalence principle, formulas are derived for both transverse electric (TE) and transverse magnetic (TM) leaky waves with arbitrary propagation constants. The formulas allow for radiation from cylindrical apertures of arbitrary size, so that the effect of truncating the supporting planar surface with an absorbing material can be determined. Particular attention is devoted to the case of a leaky wave for which the real and imaginary parts of the complex propagation constant are equal, since this type of wave has been shown to be responsible for broadside radiation in certain leaky-wave antennas comprised of dielectric layers     

Microstrip-fed microstrip second higher order leaky-mode antenna

With the appropriate placement of the slots and via holes, the microstrip second higher order leaky-mode antenna fed by a microstrip is presented. Two main beams with titled angles from the strip are measured in the predicted radiation leaky band. The leaky band of the microstrip second higher order mode is deduced from the characteristics of the propagation constants that are calculated by the spectral domain analysis. The proposed feeding method provides a direct connection with the circuits based on the microstrip line     

Characterization and Design of Cylindrical Microstrip Leaky-Wave Antennas

The spectral-domain approach is applied for the analysis and the design of the cylindrical microstrip leaky-wave antenna. The first higher-order leaky-mode is thoroughly investigated. We perform the well-known spectral-domain approach and Galerkin's method to acquire the complex propagation constants of leaky modes, which are verified with results obtained by the scattering-parameter extraction technique. Two practical antennas are designed and implemented. Measured return loss and radiation patterns show a good performance of these cylindrical antennas, compared to that of the planar ones.      

Broadband tapered microstrip leaky-wave antenna

This study proposes a novel scheme based on the characteristics of leaky-wave antennas for the empirical design of broadband tapered microstrip leaky-wave antennas. This scheme can explain and approximately model the radiation characteristics of a linearly tapered leaky-wave microstrip antenna. A broadband feeding structure that uses the balanced and the inverted balanced microstrip lines to form a pair of broadband baluns is also presented. The measured return loss of the inverted balanced microstrip lines has a VSWR/spl les/2 from dc to 18.6 GHz and that of the back-to-back feeding structures has a VSWR/spl les/2 from 2.2 to 18.6 GHz. This feeding structure can be used to feed a broadband planar leaky-wave antenna with a fixed mainbeam that uses the tapered microstrip structure. The measured bandwidth of the antenna for a VSWR/spl les/2 exceeds 2.3:1.     

Aperture-coupled microstrip line leaky wave antenna with broadsidemainbeam

A microstrip first higher order leaky wave antenna (LWA), centre-fed by an aperture-coupled microstrip with a broadside mainbeam, is presented. The measured bandwidth (23% for VSWR<2:1) is in agreement with the leaky radiation band predicted. The experimental gain patterns, compared with those of a patch antenna fed by the same type of structure, reveal the difference between these two kinds of antenna. With increasing frequency, the radiation field of the LWA spreads into the H-plane, forming a flatter broadside pattern, which can be applied to long rectangular area communication     

Single-conductor strip leaky-wave antenna

This paper presents a leaky-wave antenna with only a single-conductor strip on a substrate without a practical ground plane. The full-wave integral equation method is used to investigate the EH/sub 01/ leaky mode of this single-conductor strip structure. When this single-conductor strip is on a thin substrate with a low dielectric constant, a broad-band radiation regime can exist for the EH/sub 01/ leaky mode. The balanced microstrip lines and the inverted balanced microstrip lines are used to excite this EH/sub 01/ leaky mode. This work presents both the numerically simulated and measured data. The measured bandwidth of a voltage standing-wave ratio /spl les/2 is from 6.55- 13.75 GHz (2.34:1). In this case, the normalized phase constant is very close to 1 and this results in a fixed main-beam radiation pattern in the end-fire direction. This leaky-wave antenna with only a single rectangle stripline of length 110 mm can achieve the same broad-band performance as a tapered microstrip leaky wave antenna with a length 310 mm, as previously reported by the authors.     

Dual-frequency electric-magnetic-electric microstrip leaky-mode antenna of a single fan beam

This paper presents a dual-frequency electric-magnetic-electric (EME) microstrip exhibiting two leaky-wave regions of similar radiation characteristics like the microstrip EH/sub 1/ mode. The EME microstrip incorporates a photonic bandgap (PBG) structure, which is a two-dimensional array consisting of unit cell made of coupled coils connected by a via. The PBG structure employed in the EME prototype conducts at dc and shows the first stopband between 8.8-12.4 GHz, thus rendering the so-called magnetic surface. The EME microstrip is essentially made by substituting the PBG cells for the metal strip of a conventional microstrip. The finite-element method (FEM) analyses of the PBG structure show that the first and second modes are TM-like and TEM-like, respectively. The latter is leaky between 12.4-12.9 GHz and is found to be responsible for the second leaky region of the EME microstrip. The dispersion characteristics of the EME microstrip are obtained by two theoretical methods, namely, the matrix-pencil method and the FEM. Both show excellent agreement in the two leaky regions. Furthermore, the measured far-field radiation patterns of the two leaky regions also validate the dispersion curves. The first leaky region is of EH/sub 1/ type and between 5.05-5.45 GHz. The second leaky region radiates a frequency-scanning fan beam between 11.95-13.0 GHz, similar to those of the EH/sub 1/ mode. Detailed modal current analyses show even and odd symmetry along longitudinal and transverse plane of EME microstrip, respectively, further confirming the two leaky regions behave like the well-known EH/sub 1/ leaky mode. The proposed EME microstrip enriches the modal characteristics of the conventional, uniform microstrip and is thus a manifestation of application of PBG structure for new guiding device.     

A Gunn-Diode Active Leaky-Wave Frequency Scanning Antenna

A frequency tunable active leaky-wave scanning antenna using Gunn-diode voltage control oscillator (VCO) as source is developed. The frequency tuning controlled by changing either the varactor diode dc bias or the Gunn diode dc bias is demonstrated. The measured scanning angle of active antenna is close to 15 degree as the Gunn VCO frequency tuned from 12.58GHz to 12.98GHz. To excite the first higher order mode of the microstrip leaky-wave antenna is fed asymmetrically. The dominant mode excitation has been successfully suppressed by adding a sequence of covered wire in the middle line of the microstrip leaky wave antenna. This is a prototype of frequency scanning antenna using two terminal device, which can be easily scaled up to millimeter wave frequency region.     

漏波天线中阻带的应用及抑制

周期性结构会引入阻带.有些阻带对有些漏波天线有用,如可用于抑制某些不需要的传播模.但阻带对大部分周期性漏波天线是不利的,如边射阻带使得主波束在边射方向不能连续扫描.文中讨论了周期性结构阻带在漏波天线中的应用及抑制.给出了一个阻带应用实例:微带漏波天线一般工作于EH1模,在激励其EH1模时往往会激发不希望的EH0模,在微...     

An integrated quasi-planar leaky-wave antenna

A new quasi-planar leaky-wave antenna is presented. It consists of microstrip line on one side of the substrate and uniplanar circuit on the other side placed in a partially opened waveguide. The leakage is produced by the excitation of the first higher order (odd) microstrip mode coupled electromagnetically through a slotline on the opposite side of the substrate. Theoretic results based on rigorous Green's impedance integral equation method show that the new microstrip-slotline-coupled leaky-wave antenna has a broadband tuning range via structure parameters and is insensitive to the microstrip line width variation. Measured relative power absorbed (RPA) results indicate that the useful frequency bandwidth agrees with that predicted by rigorous field theory. The measured antenna radiation patterns also agree very well with the approximate theoretic computations. The theory and experiments show that the proposed leaky-wave antenna can interface to feeding structure easily and directly. The new antenna may become a good candidate for microwave and millimeter-wave integrated antenna design     

Circularly-polarised microstrip leaky-wave antenna

A novel circularly polarised microstrip leaky-wave antenna is proposed and tested. Two linear polarised orthogonal dual-terminals feeding microstrip leaky-wave antennas are fed with equal amplitude and 90deg phase difference to generate the two orthogonal modes. The measured results show that the antenna achieves circular polarisation efficiently.     

Radiation characteristics of uniform and nonuniform dielectricleaky-wave antennas

An approach based on a waveguide model for analyzing the uniform and nonuniform dielectric leaky-wave structures is proposed for which the Galerkin solution method is applied. In the first part of the paper the far-field radiation of the uniform antenna is determined theoretically and experimentally in the Ku band and also the dependence of beamwidth and sidelobe level as function of strip width and frequency is demonstrated. In addition, an analysis of the antenna with a tapered-strip distribution-is presented. The second part describes a novel tapering procedure, performed by changing the width of the uniform antenna, for obtaining the radiation pattern with lower sidelobe levels. Sinusoidally and exponentially shaped dielectric leaky-wave structures are analyzed as nonuniform antennas. Finally, the radiation and scanning characteristics of these antennas are theoretically presented     

Microstrip Leaky-Wave Antenna With Control of Leakage Rate and Only One Main Beam in the Azimuthal Plane

An original leaky-wave antenna (LWA), conceived from a microstrip line which is laterally shielded by parallel plates, is presented in this paper. This structure shows, for the first time, that the leakage rate of a microstrip leaky-mode can be easily controlled while negligibly affecting the pointing direction. The antenna is based on the radiation from the second higher order mode of the microstrip line, which is perturbed by the addition of the two conductor walls to control the level of the leakage rate. The parallel-plates also serve as a mechanism to obtain a single main beam in the azimuthal plane, therefore improving the radiation pattern compared to common dual-beam second-higher order mode microstrip LWAs. The proposed antenna is analyzed by obtaining the corresponding leaky-mode complex propagation constant, which is calculated by a specific method of moments approach. The modal results obtained from the leaky-mode dispersion curves are validated with analysis performed on a three-dimensional structure using commercial finite element method solver. Also, a prototype is fabricated to experimentally confirm the advantages of this novel leaky-wave line source.     

The leaky lens: a broad-band fixed-beam leaky-wave antenna

A novel type of leaky-wave antenna is presented. Differently from previously reported leaky-wave antennas, it is characterized by a constant beam direction over a very wide range of frequencies. The radiation originates at a slot etched at the interface between air and a dense dielectric, which is shaped to form a cylinder of elliptical cross sections of decreasing dimensions. Two prototypes have been designed, manufactured, and tested. The measurements are in very good agreement with the expectations, demonstrating the potentials of the leaky lens concept to realize integrated transmitters or receivers that are extremely broadband and directive.     

A reconfigurable leaky-wave/patch microstrip aperture for phased-array applications

A novel reconfigurable leaky-wave/patch microstrip aperture is introduced and characterized. The structure consists of a long leaky-wave microstrip antenna that has been segmented into several smaller patch antennas. The multimode structure can be reconfigured into a patch antenna anywhere along the aperture of the leaky-wave antenna with two degrees of freedom. p-i-n-diode switches are utilized to switch between the different aperture configurations. The structure's unique field profile is utilized to minimize insertion loss in the leaky-wave mode and also to maximize isolation between the different aperture ports. Radiation patterns demonstrate excellent radiation characteristics consistent with standard leaky-wave and patch-antenna patterns. The reconfigurable leaky-wave/patch concept is applied to realize some unique multimode array configurations offering wide scan coverage and enhanced flexibility over traditional phased-array systems.     

Active Frequency-Tune Beam-Scanning Leaky-Wave Antenna Arrays

X-band active beam-scanning leaky-wave antenna arrays, including 1 × 1,1 × 2 and 1 × 4 prototypes, have been demonstrated. These antennas integrated one or several microstrip leaky-wave antenna elements with a single varactor-tuned HEMT VCO as an active source. Measured results on experimental antennas indicate that the beam scanning angle of the 1 × 1 antenna close to 40° can be achieved and the scanning range of 1 × 2 and 1 × 4 antenna arrays are both close to 32°. Furthermore, reflected wave due to the open end of each leaky-wave antenna element has been suppressed by the symmetric configuration of this antenna array and the antenna efficiency increases. When comparing with the measured radiation pattern of the single element antenna, we found that the 1 × 2 and 1 × 4 antenna arrays can effectively suppress the reflected power by more than 5.5 dB and 10.5 dB, respectively, at 10.2GHz. The power gain are more than 2 dB and 3.16 dB higher than the single element antenna with a measured EIRP of 18.67 dBm.