An efficient and accurate semi-analytical matching technique for waveguide-fed antennas

Area of Science:

• Electromagnetics and Applied Physics
• Antenna Theory and Design
• Microwave Engineering

Background:

• Waveguide-fed antennas like horn and Fabry-Perot types are crucial for RF and microwave applications.
• Traditional impedance matching methods (parameter sweeps, blind optimization) are computationally expensive.
• Efficient impedance matching is vital for optimal performance of radiating devices.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present a computationally efficient method for impedance matching waveguide-fed antennas.
• To reduce the reliance on resource-intensive full-wave simulations and optimization algorithms.
• To provide a versatile tool for designing various waveguide-fed radiating devices.

Main Methods:

• A single full-wave simulation to obtain antenna input impedance.
• A semi-analytical procedure employing a transmission-line equivalent circuit.
• Modeling waveguide discontinuities (capacitive irises) with tunable geometric features.

Main Results:

• The proposed method achieves satisfactory impedance matching around the working frequency.
• Demonstrated effectiveness in diverse applications, including Fabry-Perot antennas and near-field links.
• Excellent agreement between full-wave simulations and numerical results across all tested cases.

Conclusions:

• The developed approach offers a simple, effective, and resource-efficient solution for impedance matching.
• Its versatility makes it suitable for a wide range of waveguide-fed antenna designs.
• This method can become an essential tool for accelerating the design process of antennas.