Phased array antennas with dielectric fin aperture loading

Planar waveguide array structures in which some form of dielectric matching is introduced, either in the form of a continuous sheet above the array face or dielectric plugs in the apertures, have received considerable attention in the literature. An alternative construction has one central dielectric fin or two edge dielectric fins in each rectangular waveguide aperture. Schaedla [2] has given a theoretical analysis for the first type of phased array but does not quote numerical results. In this paper computed results are compared with experimental measurements for simulated array faces of both types. Some conclusions are given regarding the comparative match-scan performance of fin-loaded, fully loaded, and empty waveguides. These results suggest certain advantages for the fin-loaded array configuration.