Matching properties of arbitrarily large dielectric covered phased arrays

A method is presented for approximating the impedance or admittance properties of arbitrarily large but finite dielectric covered phased arrays which use a plane wave expansion of the fields radiated by the elements. The method is general in its application to dipole, slot, or waveguide geometries even though results from dipoles near resonance are used in this paper. Results calculated using the method are compared to a well-established procedure for an array in free space. Further results for a dipole array in a dielectric slab are presented, and a problem which occurs due to a surface wave phenomenon is dealt with in an approximate manner using the insights possible from the physical interpretations of the method. The method is also shown to be valuable in its predictions of edge effects and behavior of impedances across the extent of large finite arrays which methods that work with infinite arrays or small finite arrays cannot accomplish.