Fundamental properties of radiation from a leaky mode excited on a planar transmission line

By using a specific normalization, it is shown that the TM/sub 0/ radiation field from a leaky mode that is excited by a source on any printed-circuit structure can be represented in a unified manner. The general properties of the normalized leaky-mode radiation field are examined in detail for a variety of phase and attenuation constants, as well as distances from the source, and for different types of source excitations. The normalized leaky-mode radiation field is compared to similarly normalized geometrical-optics and far-field radiation expressions to provide further insight into the nature of the radiation fields in the near- and far-field regions. The results provide a general view of leaky-mode radiation properties independent of the type of planar transmission line or background structure.