A Fabry–Pérot Antenna With Two-Dimensional Electronic Beam Scanning

Abstract

A novel fixed-frequency electronically steerable Fabry-Pérot Antenna (FPA) with electronic two-dimensional (2-D) (azimuth and elevation) steering capability is presented. The configuration is based on a centrally fed Fabry-Pérot cavity (FPC) loaded with a tunable high impedance surface (HIS). Varactor diodes are used to electronically tune the HIS reflection coefficient, forming four azimuthal sectors that are independently controlled by four control signals, respectively. It is demonstrated that this simple configuration generates a pencil beam that can be pointed to eight discrete azimuthal directions, whereas continuous elevation scanning is also attained simultaneously for each azimuthal direction by controlling the leaky-wave propagation constant. The theory, simulation analysis, and experimental results obtained from a prototype operating at 5.5 GHz are presented to validate the antenna design.