Leaky Wave Generation Through a Phased-Patch Array

Area of Science:

• Electromagnetics and Antennas
• Wave Propagation

Background:

• Leaky-wave antennas (LWAs) offer directional radiation but lack design flexibility.
• Conventional LWA designs struggle to meet requirements for generating inhomogeneous waves with adaptability.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop an initial framework for approximating LWA fields using uniform linear arrays (ULAs).
• To assess the feasibility of using ULAs for applications requiring inhomogeneous wave generation with enhanced flexibility.
• To determine the effective approximation distance between ULA and LWA fields and identify potential application-specific issues.

Main Methods:

• Approximation of leaky-wave antenna (LWA) fields using the field generated by a uniform linear array (ULA).
• Consideration of two configurations: a Menzel antenna at 12 GHz and a practical antenna at 2.4 GHz.
• Analysis of the distance at which ULA fields effectively approximate LWA fields.

Main Results:

• The study provides a method to approximate LWA fields with ULA fields, offering greater design flexibility.
• The research highlights the distances at which this approximation is effective for specific antenna configurations.
• Potential issues arising from the ULA approximation for targeted applications were identified.

Conclusions:

• Uniform linear arrays (ULAs) can effectively approximate leaky-wave antenna (LWA) fields in certain scenarios.
• This approximation offers a flexible alternative to conventional LWA designs for inhomogeneous wave generation.
• Further verification is needed to ensure the approximation does not negatively impact specific applications.