Antennas 97

Aperture Antennas
Reflectors, horns.
High Gain
Nearly real input impedance

Huygens’ Principle

Each point of a wave front is a secondary source of

spherical waves.

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 Antennas 98

Equivalence Principle

Uniqueness Theorem: a solution satisfying Maxwell’s

Equations and the boundary conditions is unique.

1. Original Problem (a):

2. Equivalent Problem (b): outside ,
inside , on , where

3. Equivalent Problem (c): outside , zero

fields inside , on , where

To further simplify,
Case 1: PEC. No contribution from .
Case 2: PMC. No contribution from .

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 Antennas 99

Infinite Planar Surface

To calculate the fields, first find the vector potential due

to the equivalent electric and magnetic currents.

In the far field, from Eqs. (1-105),

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 Antennas 100

Since in the far field, the fields can be approximate by

spherical TEM waves,

Thus the total electric field can be found by

Let be the aperture fields, then

Let

Use the coordinate system in Fig. 7-4, then

and
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 Antennas 101

or in spherical coordinate system

Using Eq. (7-8), we have

If the aperture fields are TEM waves, then

This implies

Full Vector Form

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 Antennas 102

Techniques for Evaluating Gain

Directivity

From (7-27), (7-24), (7-61)

Thus, for broadside case,

Total power

Then,

In general, for uniform distribution

If

then

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 Antennas 103

where are the directivity of a line source due to

respectively. the main beam direction
relative to broadside.

Gain and Efficiencies

where
: aperture efficiency
: radiation efficiency. (~1 for aperture antennas)
: taper efficiency or utilization factor.

: spillover efficiency. is called : illumination

efficiency.
: achievement efficiency. : cross-
polarization efficiency. phase-error efficiency.

Beam efficiency

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 Antennas 104

Simple Directivity Formulas in Terms of HP

beam width
1. Low directivity, no sidelobe

2. Large electrical size

3. High gain

Rectangular Horn Antenna

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 Antennas 105

High gain, wide band width, low VSWR

H-Plane Sectoral Horn Antenna

Evaluating phase error

thus the aperture electric field distribution

where is defined in (7-108), (7-109)

Directivity

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 Antennas 106

Figure 7-13: universal E-plane and H-plane pattern with

factor omitted, and

Figure 7-14: Universal directivity curves.

Optimum directivity occurs at and

From figure 7.13,

E-Plane Sectoral Horn Antenna

The aperture electric field distribution

See (7-129) for the resulting

Directivity

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 Antennas 107

Figure 7-16: universal E-plane and H-plane pattern with

factor omitted, and

Figure 7-17: Universal directivity curves.

Optimum directivity occurs at and

From figure 7.13,

Pyramidal Horn Antenna

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 Antennas 108

The aperture electric field distribution

Optimum gain

Design procedure:
1. Specify gain , wavelength , waveguide
dimension , .
2. Using , determine from the following
equation

3. Determine from
4. Determine , by ,
5. Determine , by ,

6. Determine , by ,
7. Verify if and , by
,

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 Antennas 109

Reflector Antennas
Parabolic Reflector

Parabolic equation:

or

Properties
1. Focal point at . All rays leaving , will be
parallel after reflection from the parabolic surface.
2. All path lengths from the focal point to any
aperture plane are equal.
3. To determine the radiation pattern, find the field
distribution at the aperture plane using GO.
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 Antennas 110

Geometrical Optics (GO)

Requirements
1. The radius curvature of the reflector is large
compared to a wavelength, allowing planar
approximation.
2. The radius curvature of the incoming wave from
the feed is large, allowing planar approximation.
3. The reflector is a perfect conductor, thus the reflect
coefficient .

Parabolic reflector:
Wideband.
Lower limit determine by the size of the reflector.
Should be several wavelengths for GO to hold.
Higher limit determine by the surface roughness of
the reflector. Should much smaller than a wavelength.
Also limited by the bandwidth of the feed.

Determining the power density distribution at the

aperture by

where ,

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 Antennas 111

PO/surface current method

PO and GO both yield good patterns in main beam and

first few sidelobes. Deteriorate due to diffraction by
the edge of the reflector. PO is better than GO for offset
reflectors.

Axis-symmetric Parabolic Reflector Antenna

For a linear polarized feed along x-axis, the pattern can

be approximate by the two principle plan patterns as
below.

where , are E-plane and H-plane patterns.

If the pattern is rotationally symmetric, then . We

have

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 Antennas 112

Also, the cross-polarization of the aperture field is

maximum in the .

For a short dipole, , ,

At , only x component exists.

F/D increases, cross-polarization decreases.

Since the range of decreases as F/D increases, the

term .

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 Antennas 113

Approximation formula

Normalized aperture field

Thus,

where
EI=edge illumination (dB) =20 log C
ET=edge taper (dB)=-EI
FT=feed taper (at aperture edge) (dB)=
Spherical spreading loss at the aperture edge

Example 7-8,
1. Estimate EI by the radiation pattern of the feed at
the edge angle of the reflector.
2. Calculate due to the distance from the feed to
the edge.
3. Estimate ET at the aperture by adding the EI and
.
4. Look up Table 7-1b for n=2.

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 Antennas 114

Offset Parabolic Reflectors

Reduce blocking loss.

Increase cross-polarization.

Dual Reflector Antenna

Spill over energy directed to the sky.

Compact.
Simplify feeding structure.
Allow more design freedom. Dual shaping.

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 Antennas 115

Other types

Design example
1. Determine the reflector diameter by half-power
beam width. For -11 dB edge illumination,

2. Choose F/D. Usually between 0.3 to 1.0.

3. Determine the required feed pattern using
model.

Example 7-9
115