Compact 2-D Frequency-Scanning Leaky-Wave Antenna Array With Cyclically Progressive Phase-Shifting Feeding Network

A novel method to realize a 2-D frequency-scanning leaky-wave antenna (LWA) array with a compact architecture feature is proposed in this paper. As the operating frequency is swept, beam-scanning in the E-plane depends on the intrinsic phase shift along the longitudinal direction of the LWA, while the progressively manipulated phase shift of the embedded feeding network along the cross-sectional direction results in the scanning behavior in the other coupled scan dimension (H-plane). To broaden beam-scanning range, a maximum beam pointing in the broadside direction is designed. Based on the above method, a 2-D frequency-scanning LWA array is designed, fabricated and measured; the results show that the impedance bandwidth achieves 29.9%, and the maximum gain is 19 dBi. Besides, the scanning beam is capable of covering an area of 60° × 180° (θ×φ) by changing frequency from 14 to 16.8 GHz.