Slotted Waveguide Array

The slotted waveguide array is a popular choice for use in radar systems due to its mechanical robustness, compactness and ability to handle high power levels. The impedance and resonant behaviour of an isolated slot depends on its size and placement (position and orientation) along the waveguide. In an array environment the impedances are also affected by nearby radiating slots and the task of designing for a specific amplitude distribution (for beamforming purposes) or small reflection becomes complicated. A design procedure for small slot arrays is given in along with a design example for a 2x4 slot antenna array. This slotted waveguide array is modeled in FEKO to determine radiation patterns and array efficiency.