LARGE APERTURE ANTENNA ANALYSIS.

The paper presents an analysis of the relationship which exists between the illumination of electromagnetic energy across a large antenna aperture and the radiated field which results. The approach taken is one which emphasizes the similarity of radiating apertures rather than the differences between such structures. No regard is given to the manner in which the aperture illumination of energy is obtained, but many of the illuminations considered are those associated with the customary use of reflector, phased array, and lens configurations. The application of Fourier, Hankel, and Lambda transform theories to diffraction theory is given, including appropriate limitations. Lambda functions are used to define the far-field patterns. Phase and amplitude effects of a priori illuminations include both the Chebyshev-Taylor control of sidelobes with respect to beamwidth and the recently introduced energy optimization concepts used in optics. The effects of errors, aperture blocking, and broadband and transient antenna response on the far-field pattern are included. Author