Microstrip Leaky Wave Antenna Performance on a Curved Surface (Preprint)

Microstrip antennas are popular due to their ease of construction and minimal dimensions especially in terms of thickness. These antennas typically are resonant structures and hence having a relatively small operational bandwidth. An alternative microstrip structure that maintains the advantage of a thin structure at the expense of a larger lateral dimension is a terminated microstrip line. The fundamental microstrip mode does not radiate well however, the first higher-order mode does. Such antennas are generally referred to as leaky wave antennas.