An Extremely Low-Profile Electronically Reconfigurable 1-D X-Band Leaky-Wave Antenna

Abstract

In this work, a simple analytical model based on the array factor to effect 1-bit electronic reconfigurability in one-dimensional 1-D leaky-wave antennas (LWAs) is proposed. The model, based on the array factor, outlines the discrete control of the phase constant along the longitudinal direction of the LWA $\left({\beta }_z\right)$ subsequently describing the beam scanning logic in the H-plane. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is evaluated by comparison against full-wave calculations. An extremely low-profile electronically reconfigurable 21-element LWA operating at X-band is then fabricated and measured to validate the proposed concept. The individual antenna element making up the array is designed at X-band and is capable of switching between radiating and non-radiating states by use of a PIN diode used to control the resonant frequency of the element. The limitations of both the proposed approach and the antenna are also evaluated.