Active aperture-coupled leaky-wave antenna

Abstract

An active aperture-coupled leaky-wave antenna which is integrated with a varactor-tuned high electron mobility transistor voltage-controlled oscillator (HEMT VCO) is presented. To excite the first higher mode of the microstrip, the aperture-coupled structure is used and a sequence of covered wire is added at the centre of this antenna to suppress the dominant mode. The measured H-plane main beam can be continuously scanned 10 degrees as the HEMT VCO frequency is varied from 9.05 to 9.5GHz. This feeding structure is very suitable for active phase antenna array applications.