Theory and experiment of the hemispherical cavity-backed slot antenna

The hemispherical cavity-backed slot antenna is studied theoretically and experimentally. The exact magnetic field Green's function of the cavity is derived rigorously and expressed in a form convenient for numerical computation. The moment method is used to find the equivalent magnetic current in the slot and, hence, the input impedance of the antenna configuration. The effects of the cavity size, of the slot length, and of the slot offset on the input impedance are studied and very good agreement between theory and experiment is obtained. The variation of the magnetic current around the slot and cavity resonances are discussed. Comparisons between the rigorous solution and the single-mode theory are given and the limitation of the single-mode theory is discussed.