Wide Beam Pattern Synthesis for Holographic-Based Leaky Wave Antennas

In this paper, a wide beam pattern synthesis method for holographic-based leaky wave antennas is presented. The desired beam width in the elevation plane is divided in multiple discrete angular sectors, leading to a non-uniform progression of the transverse modulation period across the antenna aperture. In order to achieve a flatter beam pattern, the division into the discrete elevation angles follows an exponential function instead of the common linear progression. Based on the wide beam pattern synthesis method, a HLWA with a desired 3 dB beam width of 40 o is designed and fabricated on a fused silica wafer for a frequency of 160 GHz. The far field measurements show a gain of 26 dBi, a minimum side-lobe level of 18 dB and a polarization purity of 40 dB at 160GHz.