Performance of wide band connected arrays in scanning: The equivalent circuit and its validation through a dual-band prototype demonstrator

Connected array antennas are planar radiators in which the mutual coupling between the neighboring elements is so high that the antenna elements are effectively touching each other. Physically touching connected arrays have been formally introduced by R. Hansen [1] and were then developed for wideband through the foliage observations by J.J. Lee [2]. Similarly, wideband antenna concepts were also developed by B. Munk [3], who did not refer to the name connected arrays, but essentially realized the connection by means of capacitive loading at the edges of the dipoles.