Beam-Forming Capabilities of Waveguide Feeds Assisted by Corrugated Flanges

• Published in: IEEE transactions on antennas and propagation Vol. 63; no. 12; pp. 5548 - 5560
• Main Authors: Steshenko, Sergiy, Zhadobov, Maxim, Sauleau, Ronan, Kirilenko, Anatoliy A., Boriskin, Artem V.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York IEEE 01.12.2015; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE); Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
• Subjects: Antenna radiation patterns; Beam steering; Computer Science; corrugated surfaces; Electronics; Engineering Sciences; Feeds; Flanges; Gratings; horn antennas; leaky waves; Networking and Internet Architecture; Optical waveguides; shaped beam antennas; Surface impedance; Surface waves; shaped-beam antennas; Beam steering; corrugated surfaces; horn antennas; leaky waves (LW); radiation-pattern; reflectors; surface; periodic printed structures; leaky modes; design; band; aperture efficiency; horn antenna; lens
• ISSN: 0018-926X; 1558-2221
• DOI: 10.1109/TAP.2015.2487990

The physical mechanisms behind the formation of shaped-beam radiation patterns by flat horns (i.e., open ended waveguide feeds with finite-size corrugated flanges) are studied in a rigorous manner using the singular integral equation (SIE) approach. The problem is considered for TM polarization in the two-dimensional (2-D) formulation. First, dispersion curves of periodic grating are presented and used to analyze the modes supported by the waveguide flanges. This includes the surface wave, stopband, and leaky-wave regimes. The modes corresponding to the poles on the bottom "nonphysical" Riemann sheets are also considered. Finally, various types of radiation patterns produced by flat horns with gratings operating in different regimes are illustrated with an emphasis on generating sectoral beams being of interest for many practical applications. The results are validated via comparison with full-wave three-dimensional (3-D) analysis.