Wide-Angle Wideband Frequency-Independent Beam-Scanning Leaky Wave Antenna

Frequency-independent beam scanning leaky-wave antennas (LWAs) that can operate over a specific frequency band are highly desirable for future wireless systems. A composite right/left-handed (CRLH) LWA is developed in this paper that facilitates these functionalities. It utilizes two groups of varactor diodes to realize the frequency-independent beam scanning capability. The optimized reconfigurable CRLH LWA and its simple DC biasing network achieves a simulated frequency-independent beam that scans over 100° at each frequency point between 4.75 and 5.25 GHz. An antenna prototype was fabricated and tested. The measured results at 5.0 GHz confirm its simulated performance characteristics.