Improvement of prompt response from impulse radiating antennas by aperture trimming

Reflector impulse radiating antennas (IRA) traditionally have been constructed by terminating a self-reciprocal, transverse electromagnetic (TEM) transmission-line feed structure into a paraboloidal reflector. The section of the paraboloid used is usually circular in cross-section, with the outer boundary coinciding with the circle of symmetry of the TEM feed. The reflector converts the spherical TEM mode on the feed line into an approximate plane wave in the near field by geometric optics. The prompt radiated electric field in the direction of focus is given in the physical optics approximation in terms of the integral of the electric field of the TEM mode over the aperture plane inside the reflector boundary. Balanced feed structures have TEM modes that provide both positive and negative contributions to this integral in the aperture plane. Determination of the contour where the principal component of the electric field in the TEM mode is zero identifies portions of the aperture that contribute destructively to the integral. These portions are removed, thereby increasing the prompt radiated field without altering the feed structure or the applied voltage waveform. Furthermore, decreasing the size of the TEM feed relative to the aperture size, followed by appropriate aperture trimming, allows an even greater increase in radiated field. Results are presented that predict an increase in prompt radiated fields for all electrode configurations. Improvements are largest for electrode angles that are large (with respect to the vertical). The trends predicted by the numerical results are verified by an experiment conducted on a time-domain antenna range.