Microwave Antenna with Fan-Shaped Radiation Pattern

The relevance of the topic is determined by the need to create highly directional low-profile antennas with a fan-shaped radiation pattern, designed to solve search, monitoring and remote communication tasks in the microwave range.

The aim of the study is to develop a microwave leaky wave antenna with a simple radiating aperture design, a fan-shaped radiation pattern with a narrow main lobe width in one plane and a reduced level of side radiation.

Methods. Analytical review of scientific publications to substantiate the selection of key parameters for the radiating aperture geometry. Numerical and analytical modeling of the antenna based on an original 2D model, full-wave 3D modeling using the Weyland finite integral method, and parametric synthesis of the radiating aperture.

To solve this problem, a low-profile linear microwave antenna (9.3–9.4 GHz) was developed with a fan-shaped radiation pattern. The radiating aperture is implemented using a dielectric transmission line comprising a flat dielectric waveguide shielded by a conductive grating and excited by a horn-lens device. With an aperture area of less than 0.2 m², the antenna boasts an efficiency of approximately 89 % and can guarantee a gain of at least 31.5 dB with a 1.2° E-plane radiation pattern and a sideband radiation level of approximately –19 dB.

The scientific novelty of this work is determined by the author's approach to combining methods for analyzing and synthesizing a linear leaky-wave antenna based on 2D and 3D models. For the first time in Russian practice, the feasibility of implementing a highly directional leaky-wave antenna with a simple aperture design and reduced lateral radiation in the operating plane has been demonstrated.

Practical significance. The developed methodology enables the design of low-profile leaky-wave antennas with standard and specialized radiation patterns based on mathematical methods. The results obtained in this study can be used to solve search, monitoring, and remote communications problems, where a narrow antenna radiation pattern combined with reduced sideband radiation is an important requirement.

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