Higher-Order Space Harmonics in Substrate Integrated Waveguide Leaky-Wave Antennas

The concept and feasibility of deploying higher-order space harmonics (HSHs) in 1-D periodic leaky-wave antennas (1-D periodic LWAs) is proposed, studied, analyzed, and demonstrated in this article. This can lead to the creation of multiband multibeam antennas (MBMBAs) with the capability of wide scanning ranges. To show the proposed concept, the excitation and flexibility of odd (n ε [-1, -3]) and even (n ε [-2, -4]) HSHs based on the analysis of a Brillouin diagram along with the effect of unit-cell geometrical structures of substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) for different propagating media are investigated. The proposed analysis is experimentally validated by prototyping and measuring a 1-D periodic LWA in SIW technology in which two HSHs (n ε [-1, -2]) are utilized for achieving a dual-band multibeam LWA with wide scanning range capability. In addition, a triple-band multibeam LWA design based on this concept is also analyzed and demonstrated where we take advantage of the characteristics of four HSHs (n ε [-1, -2, -3, -4]). Furthermore, the band edge issue of different stop-bands of HSH is also examined, and a method is proposed and used to address this issue where we use a quarter wavelength technique to overcome the matching problem at different frequencies related to different stop-bands of various HSHs (n ε [-1, -2, -3, -4]). Another design of a SIW-based 1-D periodic LWA is also discussed to extend and generalize the proposed concept in solving the mismatch issues of HSHs focusing on broadside radiation of the n $= -2$ space harmonic. The measured results are found to agree very well with their simulation and analysis counterparts.