IET论文模板.doc

Variable beamwidth corner reflector antenna U.O. Sterr, A.D. Olver and P.J.B. Clarricoats A simple and successful design for a variable beamwidth corner reflector antenna is presented. The gain and the –3dB beamwidth of the antenna are predicted using the finite difference time domain (FDTD) method. The predicted results are compared with measured data and good agreement is reported. Introduction: The corner reflector antenna is a simple antenna for medium gain applications at UHF and low microwave frequencies. It consists of two flat plates intersecting at an apex angle and is usually fed by a half wave dipole placed along the plane which bisects the plates. The corner reflector antenna was invented in 1938 by Kraus [1] who showed that the radiation characteristic of an infinite size corner reflector can be computed analytically using image theory if the apex angle is a sub-multiple of ?. An analytical solution for arbitrary apex angles was developed in 1954 by Wait [2]. The influence of the finite size reflector plates on the radiation pattern of the corner reflector antenna was first investigated by Olver and Steif [3] using the finite difference time domain (FDTD) method described by Taflove [4] and many other authors. For some applications of the corner reflector antenna it is desirable to be able to adjust the beamwidth of the radiation characteristic. This Letter proposes that a variable beamwidth antenna can be achieved by making a corner reflector antenna with a hinge at the apex angle. Prediction method: FDTD is an ideal method for predicting the radiation characteristics of corner reflector antennas because of its ability to model medium size antennas with considerable accuracy [3]. The 3D code used for the FDTD simulations was developed at Queen Mary and Westfield College (QMW). The cell size was ?/20 which enables the plates to accurately modelled. The size of the grid was chosen such that the structure was half a wavelength from the absorbing boundary