Analysis and design of controllable leaky-wave antennas inspired by Prof. Arthur Oliner a tribute to Prof. Oliner

© 2014 European Microwave Association. In this paper, we make a summary on the different leaky-wave antenna (LWA) technologies developed by Spanish groups in collaboration with UK and Australia, and which have been inspired by seminal works of Prof. Oliner. First, we will describe the LWAs based on asymmetric waveguides proposed by Prof. Oliner and collaborators in the 80s-90s. Also, the labor of Prof. Oliner to reveal the nature of leaky modes in microstrip lines will be reminded. Based on these pioneering works, the contribution of the authors to the analysis and design of LWAs in three distinct technologies will be described. Namely: hybrid waveguide-printed circuit technology, Fabry-Pérot (FP) technology, and Substrate Integrated Waveguide (SIW) technology. The control of the complex leaky-mode wavenumber is necessary for the synthesis of high-gain frequency scanning patterns. This paper gives an overview of the working mechanism and taper principles used for each technology, in a tribute to Prof. Oliner and collaborators who inspired all these ideas.