Static and electronic shaping of the radiated electromagnetic fields in radial arrays of substrate integrated leaky-wave antennas

This contribution describes how leaky waves can be malleably modulated in substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) antennas. It is the first time that such flexible and unconventional tapering of the leaky modes is demonstrated in a practical leaky-wave antenna (LWA) structure. The synthesis theory is based on the dispersion engineering of the radiative leaky mode. It is explained how this procedure provides, in a systematic and efficient manner, the requested modulation of the SIW geometry along its length. As a result, unseen shaping of the radiated fields with LWAs is achieved. This is demonstrated by several electrically-large designs at 15 GHz, to obtain highly focused radiation patterns both in near and far field regimes. Also, a radial-array configuration is described, which provides two-dimensional shaping of the radiated fields. Finally, it is anticipated how these antennas can be electronically controlled. In this way, it is foreseen a new type of high-gain, low-cost, single-layer, planar reconfigurable antennas, which are simply fed and directly integrated with the RF front-end.