Wide-Scanning-Angle Leaky-Wave Array Antenna Based on Microstrip SSPPs-TL

In this letter, a wide-scanning-angle leaky-wave antenna (LWA) based on a microstrip spoof surface plasmon polaritons (SSPPs) transmission line (TL) is proposed. The dual-conductor SSPPs-TL as the guiding-wave structure of the proposed antenna consists of a two-edged grooved corrugated strip and a ground plane. A set of metallic posts connect the corrugated strip to the ground plane along two sides of the SSPPs-TL in a staggered way, which converts SSPPs to radiation waves. A power divider is the feeding network for two antenna arrays. The scanning region is mainly controlled by the depth of the groove, which has strong relationship with the dispersion of the antenna. Over the operating band from 5 to 7 GHz, the beam of the proposed antenna scans widely from −30° to 51° (including the broadside) with the realized gain varying from 15.9 to 19.4 dBi. A prototype is fabricated and measured, which confirms the design theory and the simulation results.