Novel CRLH Leaky Wave Antenna with Horizontal Scanning Property

Abstract

A novel composite right/left-handed (CRLH) leaky-wave antenna (LWA) with horizontal scanning capability is presented. It consists of 10 CRLH unit cells and coplanar waveguide (CPW) to coplanar strpline (CPS) feeding schemes. The proposed balanced CRLH unit cell is designed based on coplanar stripline structure. Dimensions of the CRLH unit cell could be determined analytically, which makes it easily to be modified to operate at any other frequency band. By varying the operating frequency, the CRLH leaky wave antenna reveals the continuously beam scanning capability from backward to forward in the azimuth plane, which achieves about 135 scanning range of angels. The simulated return loss as well as far-field radiation patterns were also provided to verify its beam-scanning property in horizontal plane. Planar and low profile characteristics of the novel CRLH LWA make it suitable to be integrated with other microwave circuits.