2023 PhotonIcs & Electromagnetics Research Symposium (PIERS), Prague, Czech Republic, 3–6 July

Ka-band Diffraction Radiation Antenna

N. Burambayeva1 , A. Begimova1 , V. Pazynin2 , K. Sirenko2 , and N. Yashina2
1
L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University, Astana, Kazakhstan
2
O.Ya. Usikov Institute for Radiophysics and Electronics
National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Kharkiv, Ukraine

Abstract— New model of a diffraction radiation antenna intended for applications in the Ka -
band is presented. The antenna has high efficiency in the frequency range of 22.9–45.8 GHz,
and boasts a narrow main lobe of the radiation pattern with a width of less than 3.2◦ . It has
been demonstrated that the antenna enables effective spatial-frequency selection of E-polarized
signals within the incidence angle sector of ±82◦ . This property makes the presented antenna
well-suited for utilization in passive imaging systems.
2023 Photonics & Electromagnetics Research Symposium (PIERS) | 979-8-3503-1284-3/23/$31.00 ©2023 IEEE | DOI: 10.1109/PIERS59004.2023.10221294

1. INTRODUCTION
The effect of the transformation of surface waves into volumetric waves (also known as the wave
analogue of the Smith-Purcell effect [1–3]) lies in the basis of the functioning of diffraction radiation
antennas (DRAs) also known as leaky-wave antennas [3–6]. This wave transformation is caused by
the diffraction of the field of an open transmission line on a periodic or quasi-periodic scattering
structure. In the case of a resonant interaction, the transformation efficiency could be especially
high and reach almost 100%. DRAs are known for their relatively simple constructions and low
manufacture costs in addition to other benefits, such as compact size and ease of use. These
antennas are widely used in various radar systems [5, 7], passive imaging systems [8], and other
devices and applications of current importance at wavelengths shorter than approximately 1–2 cm.
The aim of this research is to design a highly efficient DRA with a single-lobe radiation pattern
over a wide frequency range. And in this paper, we present a design option for such an antenna
operating in the Ka -band.
The suggested model of the antenna is made of a segment of planar dielectric waveguide located
above a reflective metal grating with rectangular grooves and matched with two plane-parallel metal
waveguides (ports), see Fig. 1. This design is relatively simple, compact, cheap to manufacture,
and easy to use. When used in the receiving mode, the presence of two identical ports doubles the
antenna’s field of view if compared with single-port designs.
The extensive numerical study of the electrodynamic characteristics when radiating pulsed waves
have been carried out for the proposed DRA. It is shown that in the range from 22.9 to 45.8 GHz, the
antenna has high efficiency (greater than 0.95), narrow (less than 3.2◦ ) main lobe of the radiation
pattern, and allows efficient spatial-frequency selection of E-polarized signals within the sector
±82◦ of incent angles. Such characteristics make the proposed antenna promising for utilization in
passive imaging systems, especially in the millimeter wavelength range.

Waveguide
L1 L2 L3 r
I Waveguide II
W
φ Dielectric waveguide a
TE1
ε
d Grating
y
δ
l1 l2
z

Figure 1: Geometry of the model problem.

2. ANTENNA DESIGN
The geometry of the DRA model is presented in Fig. 1. It consists of an open dielectric waveguide
with relative permittivity ε = 2.1 (Teflon), a reflective metal grating with a rectangular profile, and
two identical plane-parallel waveguides I and II, which can be used both for input and output signal.
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 2023 PhotonIcs & Electromagnetics Research Symposium (PIERS), Prague, Czech Republic, 3–6 July

The width a of these waveguides is set in accordance with the wide wall of standard waveguide
WR28: 7.11 × 3.56 mm2 . The considered model of DRA is two-dimensional: its geometric and
electromagnetic characteristics are independent of the coordinate x. We consider E-polarized fields
for which the electric field vector has only one nontrivial component, E ~ = {Ex , 0, 0}, and the
~
magnetic field vector is H = {0, Hy , Hz }.
The width of the dielectric waveguide W = 0.4a allows to match its operating range with
the range of the waveguides I and II. The “tuning” sections with parameters L1 , L2 , and L3 are
organized for energy matching, they are set as L1 = L2 = 3a and L3 = a.
A heuristic search was performed for the geometric parameters d, l1 , and l2 of the reflective
grating and the span δ between the grating and the dielectric waveguide. The purpose of this
search was to numerically determine the parameters at which the operating band of the antenna
(excited by T E1 wave of one of the plane-parallel waveguides, for example, let it be the waveguide
I) would satisfy the following requirements:
¯ ¯2 Á ¯ ¯2
¯ ¯ ¯ ¯
1. The antenna’s radiation pattern D(φ, k) = lim ¯Ẽx (r, φ, k)¯ max ¯Ẽx (r, φ, k)¯ in the
r→∞ 0≤φ≤2π
operating frequency band has one dominant lobe, and the level of side lobes is no more than
−10 dB.
2. The antenna’s efficiency η(k) = 1 − R(k) − T (k) in this band is not less than 90%.
3. The band’s width should be maximized.
Here, R(k) is a reflection coefficient (of the input wave from the antenna), T (k) is a transmission
coefficient (from waveguide I to waveguide II), k = 2π/λ is a wavenumber which is used as a
1
´∞
frequency parameter, λ is a wavelength in the free space, Ẽx (r, φ, k) = 2π Ex (r, φ, t)eikt dt.
−∞
The results of numerical experiments which were carried out using the method of exact absorbing
conditions [9] are presented in the following section.

3. NUMERICAL RESULTS
Figure 2 presents the electrodynamic characteristics of the DRA with the following grating’s pa-
rameters: d = 0.3a, l1 = 0.6a, l2 = 0.3a, δ = 0.1a, the number of grooves is 100, the total length
of the grating is 0.64 m. The resonance at k = 796.38 m−1 (which corresponds to approximately
38 GHz) is marked with a dashed line, it is clearly seen in the bottom fragment of Fig. 2. Fig. 3
presents the radiation patterns of the DRA for three different values of the frequency parameter,
k = 500 m−1 , k = 700 m−1 , and k = 900 m−1 .
The results presented in Fig. 2 and Fig. 3 lead to the following observations and conclusions:
1. In the frequency band 490 m−1 ≤ k ≤ 783.8 m−1 (approximately from 23.4 to 37.4 GHz), at
least 95% of the total input energy is radiated. The direction of the main lobe of the radiation
pattern changes monotonously from φ ≈ 172◦ to φ ≈ 91.5◦ .
2. There is a resonance at k = 796.83 m−1 (approximately 38 GHz). This resonance corresponds
to the radiation direction which is strictly normal to the antenna. At this frequency, oscilla-
tions in all grooves are excited in-phase, and the front of the radiated wave is parallel to the
antenna aperture. In this scenario, 28.6% of the input energy is radiated, 68.9% is reflected
back into the feeding waveguide I, and 2.5% passes into the waveguide II.
3. For frequencies above this resonance (f > 38.4 GHz), there is also a frequency band with high
efficiency η(k) > 0.95. However, at f > 41.4 GHz, the second lobe manifests itself in the
radiation pattern with up to 0.4 level depending on k.
4. The width of the main lobe, calculated from the half power level, varies from 3.2◦ (k =
490 m−1 ) to 1.5◦ (k = 900 m−1 ). Its direction is at the high-frequency end of the studied
range (k = 960 m−1 or f ≈ 45.8 GHz) is φ ≈ 75.1◦ .
It should be noted that when the proposed model antenna operates in the receiver mode, both
waveguides I and II could be used to place detectors in them. In this case, due to the symmetry
of the antenna, the effective spatial-frequency selection of the received signals in the angular sector
8◦ < φ < 172◦ is possible. But it may be accompanied with a deterioration in the reception quality
in the vicinity of the resonance at k ≈ 796.83 m−1 and normal incidence (for φ ≈ 90◦ ).
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 2023 PhotonIcs & Electromagnetics Research Symposium (PIERS), Prague, Czech Republic, 3–6 July

D (φ,k)
180
1.0

150 0.9
0.5

120 0.1
0.0

90

60

30

1.0
η (k )
0.5 R (k )
T (k )

0.0
500 600 700 800 900 k , m−1

Figure 2: Far-field radiation pattern D(φ, k) ; reflection and transmission coefficients R(k) and T (k), the
antenna efficiency η(k).

D (φ , k ) k = 500 D(φ , k ) k =700 D(φ , k ) k =900

1.0

0.5

0.0
0 45 90 135 180 0 45 90 135 180 0 45 90 135 ϕ

Figure 3: Radiation pattern D(φ, k) for the wavenumbers k = 500 m−1 , k = 700 m−1 and k = 900 m−1 .

Figure 4 shows several electric field patterns in the computation domain for various moments
of time. The antenna operates in the radiation mode. These pictures illustrate the transformation
dynamics of the antenna’s near field and the formation of lobes in the radiation pattern. The
antenna is excited from the waveguide I with the pulse

Exsrc (y, z, t) = µ1 (y) · v1 (z, t), (1)

Here,
p
µ1 (y) = 2/a sin (πy/a) , v1 (z, t) = A · S(t) · cos (kc (t − T )) ,
(
(t − Tmin )/(t1 − Tmin ), if Tmin ≤ t ≤ t1 ,
S(t) = x2 (3 − 2x), x= 1 if t1 ≤ t ≤ t2 ,
(t − Tmax )/(t2 − Tmax ), if t2 ≤ t ≤ Tmax

t is the natural time, y is the transverse coordinate of the local Cartesian coordinate system asso-
ciated with one of the input waveguide walls, kc = 700 m−1 is the carrier frequency’s wavenumber,
A = 4, Tmin = 0, Tmax = 1.33 ns, T = 0.67 ns, t1 = 0.167 ns, t2 = 1.17 ns.
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 2023 PhotonIcs & Electromagnetics Research Symposium (PIERS), Prague, Czech Republic, 3–6 July

Figure 4: Electric field patterns in the vicinity of the aperture at various moments of time when the antenna
is excited by the pulse (1) with k = 700 m−1 .

4. CONCLUSION
A DRA model for E-polarized fields in the Ka-band is showcased in this paper. Through a detailed
numerical study, the electrodynamic characteristics of the device have been analyzed, in particular,
the radiation of pulsed waves. It is demonstrated that in the frequency range 22.9–45.8 GHz, the
antenna has high efficiency (never less than 0.95), narrow main lobe of the radiation pattern (less
than 3.2◦ ), and permits efficient spatial-frequency selection of E-polarized signals for incident angles
within ±82◦ . Thanks to its characteristics, the proposed DRA design is expected to have a wide
range of applications, especially in the millimeter wavelength range, for example, in passive imaging
systems.
Overall, our findings demonstrate the potential of DRAs as highly efficient and cost-effective
designs. Future work may involve further optimizing the design parameters, as well as exploring
the use of DRAs in other applications.
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