Initial assessment of a waveguide with dielectric-filled corrugations as a technology for slot antennas with backward-to-forward scanning capabilities

The frequency-scanning capabilities of continuous-type leaky-wave antennas have usually been restricted to main-beam pointing angles within the forward quadrant. With the appearance of metamaterial concepts, wave propagation with negative and zero phase constant has made it possible to spread the scanning directions, allowing main-beam angles into the backward quadrant, as well as the broadside direction. In this paper, a straight long slot antenna, implemented in a rectangular waveguide with dielectric-filled corrugations, is analyzed, constructed and measured, and an analysis method, based on an equivalent homogeneized waveguide, is proposed. Some features of the antenna, such as losses, radiation pattern and gain are studied, in order to assess the performance and suitability of the composite right/left-handed waveguide technology used. The obtained results highlight the limiting factors for the applicability of the corrugated waveguide in antenna applications, while confirm the validity of the analysis technique proposed.