Theory and experiment for infinite microstrip arrays

Microstrip antennas are well suited for use in large scanning arrays. To obtain greater bandwidth, it is useful to use thicker substrates, which can increase the effects of mutual coupling and lead to significant mismatch or blindness for certain scan angles. Using an infinite array formulation, the impedance of a single element in an infinite array environment was solved with the method of moments. Mutual coupling is built into the solution, and the presence of surface waves is accounted for by using the periodic Green's function for the grounded dielectric substrate. Blindness in arrays of microstrip dipoles on various substrates, both with and without radomes is demonstrated.