Slope diffraction and its application to horns

The first order geometrical theory of diffraction (GTD) predicts vanishing fields along the surface of a conducting wedge for the incident electric field polarized parallel to the diffracting edge. The slope diffraction coefficient is a valid correction term for incidence angles removed from the shadow boundary. A new slope diffraction function for the half plane is presented along with applications. This new form of slope diffraction coefficient for the half plane is valid through the shadow region. Reciprocity is invoked to find the far-fields for a source on the surface of the conducting wedge. In addition to applying the two-dimensional slope diffraction analysis to practical problems, the equivalent current concepts have been extended to include equivalent slope currents for the analysis of either finite or curved edges. This new form of the slope diffraction function has been successfully used to provide an -plane horn pattern analysis that is considerably less tedious than previously possible with GTD. Both pure GTD solutions and hybrid solutions using conventional aperture integration for the main beam region and GTD for the far-out side and back lobes are compared with experimental results.