A Fixed-Frequency Beam-Scanning Leaky-Wave Antenna Using Phase and Amplitude Control for Millimeter-Wave Applications

A new type of fixed-frequency beam-scanning leaky-wave antenna (LWA) in Ka millimeter-waveband is developed in this article, based on dual control of phase and amplitude. The antenna consists of a groove gap waveguide (GGW) and 80 perturbation units. Each unit contains one patch and a pair of H-shaped slots. By controlling the state of a slot with p-i-n diodes, the phase of the radiated field from each unit can be switched between two opposite phases, called “1” state and “−1” state, while the magnitude of the radiated field remains unchanged. In addition, the radiation strength of each unit can be also turned off to provide amplitude control. The main principle for beam scanning is based on the phase compensation to the perturbation units on the surface of the LWA, combined with 1-bit amplitude control to achieve lower sidelobe levels, so the principle is different from that of the existing fixed-frequency beam-scanning LWAs. The entire antenna structure relies on GGW transmission to reduce dielectric loss in millimeter-waveband, and shows good characteristics of scanning angle and realized gain. In the measurement, a high peak gain of 16.8 dBi and a large beam-scanning range over 110° are achieved.