Reconfigurable Leaky-Wave Antenna Based on Periodic Water Grating

A reconfigurable leaky-wave antenna using periodic water grating on the top of a grounded glass slab is presented in this letter. A probe-fed unidirectional surface-wave launcher is designed to feed the antenna. Two prototypes of the proposed antenna are fabricated and tested to demonstrate its radiation performance and tuning capability. Measured results of the first static antenna show that a maximum gain of 16 dB, a wide impedance bandwidth (|S₁₁|<;-10 dB) from 4.1 to 6.6 GHz (46.7%), and a large beam-scanning range over the impedance band from the back-fire to nearly broadside direction are obtained. Measured results of the second dynamic antenna show that the beam-pointing angle can be tuned from -32° to 18 ° at 5.5 GHz, while the return loss maintains better than 10 dB.