ER0-Mode Microstrip Leaky-Wave Antennas with Periodical Loading of Shorting Pins

摘要

A novel microstrip leaky-wave antenna (MLWA) under the operation of the fundamental leaky-wave EH₀mode in a microstrip line (MSL) is presented. Different from the conventional EH₀-mode (quasi-TEM) structure with β/k₀> 1, the proposed EH₀-mode MLWA is implemented by periodically loading inductive shorting pins along the MSL to excite an EH₀-mode fast-wave region with β/k₀<; 1 for radiation. Herein, both the antenna structure and feeding line are simultaneously excited under the operation of the same EH₀mode, leading to the mode purity with simplified feeding mechanism. Most importantly, the proposed leaky-wave EH₀mode is not restricted by transverse resonant condition of higher-order modes, resulting to realize an arbitrary fast-wave region by virtue of varied periodicity of shorting pins.