Modal behavior of spherical waves from a source of EM radiation with application to spherical scanning

An exact analysis for deriving closed-form expressions for the coefficients of free-space spherical modes radiated by typical linear, array, and aperture type of antennas is presented. This analysis is employed to determine the number of spherical modes required to reconstruct the near/ far fields (NF/FF) with a prescribed accuracy. The analysis developed together with the theory of probe-compensated spherical scanning is also employed to arrive at a criterion for the minimum distance of separation between the probe and test antenna which will enable accurate nonprobe corrected spherical scanning possible.