Modeling of photonic bandgap effects on scan blindnesses in printed dipole arrays

An analysis of scanblindness onset angles in printed dipole arrays with perforated dielectric substrates is presented. The periodic grid of air holes in these arrays is shown to produce a photonic bandgap (PBG), which is identified as the root cause of previously observed anomalous behavior in H-plane scans. A basic transmission line unit cell model is developed that incorporates PBG effects, and this updated model is shown to accurately predict scanblindnesseses even in cases where traditional analysis fails. This new model lays the groundwork for investigations into E-plane blindness mitigation using the PBG behavior of perforated dielectric substrates.