Wave analysis of aperture field distribution for probe-fed radial line planar antennas

Probe-fed radial line planar antennas (RLPAs) have high efficiency, because the excitation probes of the radiating elements can be fed by a standing wave in the radial line with a short-circuited termination of its end. We propose a method for the wave analysis of a probe-fed RLPA. Good correspondence has been confirmed between measured and calculated values on the aperture field distribution. By observing the parameter dependence of the feeding network, a method is proposed to achieve a uniform aperture field distribution. The method is efficient for general geometries of probe-fed RLPAs.