Design of line-source antennas for narrow beamwidth and low side lobes

It is well known that the phenomenon of radiation from line-source antennas is very similar to that of the diffraction of light from narrow apertures. Unlike the optical situation, however, antenna design technique permits the use of other-than-uniform distributions of field across the antenna aperture. Line source synthesis is the science of choosing this distribution function to give a radiation pattern with prescribed properties such as, for example, narrow angular width of the main lobe and low side lobes. In the present article the mathematical relationships involved in the radiation calculation are studied from the point of view of function theory. Some conclusions are drawn which outline the major aspects of synthesis technique very clearly. In particular, the problem of constructing a line source with an optimum compromise between beamwidth and side-lobe level (analogous to the Dolph - Tchebycheff problem in linear array theory) is considered. The ideal pattern is cos π √ {u /sup 2/ - A/sup 2/} , where u = (2a/λ) cos θ, a is the half-length of the source, and cosh π A is the side-lobe ratio. Because of theoretical limitations, this pattern cannot be obtained from a physically realizable antenna; nevertheless its ideal characteristics can be approached arbitrarily closely. The procedure for doing this is given in detail.