A new wedge-offset NRD guide leaky wave antenna

In this paper, we propose a new leaky wave antenna based on a nonradiative dielectric (NRD) guide that possesses the merit of easy manufacture and overcomes the difficulty of fixing the dielectric slab in the guide precisely. The another attractive feature of this antenna is that the leakage and propagation constants can be separately controlled by different geometric parameters. It means that the maximum radiation angle and beamwidth of the antenna can be independently controlled. Thus the sidelobe of the antenna can be reduced by tapering the leakage constant along the propagating direction while the beam direction remains almost unchanged, which is always desirable in practical applications. Extensive numerical results are given to establish useful guidelines for the design of the antenna.