Near-field analysis by the plane-wave spectrum approach

Historically, most near-field analyses have relied upon aperture-integration techniques. The purpose of this paper is to point out the advantage of the plane-wave spectrum (PWS) approach for analysis of antenna near fields. The advantage of the PWS approach over aperture-integration techniques is quite substantial throughout the entire near-field region for circular apertures. Furthermore, the advantage increases in proportion to closeness to the aperture. The PWS approach also appears to offer advantage for noncircular apertures, e.g., rectangular, at least for large aperture sizes.