referellce array with which to work.

Since the new referSpace tapering call also be extended to planar arrays on of other shapes and to three-dilnensional arrays such as ence arra?; is planar, the procedure from this point cylinders and sp!leres. 111 drawing the annular ring grid !vi11 be the same as t h a t described previously. which was used to locate the elements, we were essenI .' ~ ( . I ~ ~ o \ ~ - L ~ ; I ~ G ~ ~ I ~ ~ T S tiall>- making a contour plot of the illumination func'I'he author is indebted to many who aided i n the tion over the aperture. This same procedure can he followed for otherplanararra>.sandillunlination func- gathering of data for this report: to \Y.Schneider, who of the calculations and made several tions. Obviousl\-, howe\ler, the construction of the con- perfomled man!. tours will not be as str;lightfornmd as for the circular significant contributions; to J . Best and H. Dantzig, who offered mall>-helpfulsuggestions: to L. Ehudin, ; m a > -\vir11 a circular1)- s>'mmetric illunli~~ation function. \\Then ;Ippl>.ing this method to three-dimensional who performed the graphical design of the nrral-s; and to E. Reed, X. H a r t , H. R y n a n , E. Crizer, a n d R. Selarra!.s, theonlyextrasteprequired is toprojectthe elements i n the reference array onto a plane that is tan- lcrs, who \\-ere responsible for the construction and testgent to the center of the arra?.; this will give a "new" ing of the test array.

A Quasi-"Isotropic" Antenna in the Microwave Spectrum"

Summary-Thegeneralproblem of radiation by apertures on sphericalsurfaceswas first considered theoretically by Stratton and Chu in 1941.' More recently, the problem was again considered by Bailin and Silver,? and Mushiake and Webster.3 All numerical and experimental efforts to date have been restricted to the special case of a very small sphere as measured in wavelengths. This paper is in effect an extension of the previous results to the case of large spheres uniformly excited by an equatorial slot of varying size. The detailed numerical and experimental results are restricted to the f i s t TM and TE modes. In general, it is possibletoshow that the large spherical slot antenna can be made unusually "isotropic" with a far-field coverage factor of over 98 per cent.

If the antenna is to be characterized by a n ornnidirectional broad-beam radiation pattern, it is evident that the supporting structure might be spherical i n shape. hope full^., antennas of this kind could be made quasi"isotropic" b\. properl~r excitingthe spherical shell. ,.he generalproblem oi radiation t)!, apertures on I spherical surfaces was first considered theoreticall>- b ! . Stratton and C h u i n 1941.' >lore recentl?., the problem \vas again considered L3ailin and SillTer i n 19.56? and by ii'ebster and 1Iushinke i n ls)ji.3

b,.

July
sidered in detail. These modes could be excited by the E o and HI modes5 of a radial waveguide feeding the slot. I t will be shown that large antennas of this type can be made unusually isotropic, particularly for the first TM mode.Forexample,asphere 20 wavelengths i n diameter can be used to obtain a 3-db coverage factor6 of over 98 per cent.
cr = sir1--

b
7

2a

and

a = radius of the sphere,b = height of the slot, O= elecE tric field intensity in the slot,k = 2r/X, h n @ ) ( x= spheri) calHankelfunction, P,,= Legendrepolynomial,and 77 = d p , / e o . I t is of importance to note that the sum over n can be bound by some A such t h a t X - k a for ka>>l. T For reference, the slot field intensity is given by:

The spherical slot antenna can be characterized b,- a ormlyconducting surface perfectly spherical in 4 by a slot located in the equatorial plane. The geometry is illustrated by Fig. l. A s noted by Stratton and Chu,l and Bailin and Silver, the electromagnetic field at some point P can be written as the sum of a set of q orthogonal TE and ~ y modes. The magnitude of any member of the set is determined by the boundary condiexciting the slot. over tions From symmetry considerations it is evident that the optimum isotropy can be obtained by exciting the first T M a n d ?E modes: TMo and TE1, since these are independent of the angle 4.
I

E,

h(r

- a ) ~ o for - - cr 5 e 5 - + a
2 2

i T

n-

B. The TEl
This mode can be excited by the H1 mode in a radial 1yaVeguide feeding the slot. The far-field components of the antenna are given
U

&,(r, 0, t ) = 2E1 - E-i(ui-kr) r

where

B,

s 9[
cos
ir12-L-i

n-

cos e] sin Ode

2a
X

Fig. 1-Spherical

slot antenna.

and where El is the maximum value of the electric field intensit):intheslot.Forreference,theslot field intensity is given by:

A . T h e T M o Mode
This mode could be excited by the EOmode in the radialwaveguidefeedingtheslot.The far-field cornponents of the antenna are given by:1,2
Ee(r, 0, t ) = 2Eo-

E,

= &(r

- a )El COS

(aa e)
nCOS

a
7

ei(wf-kr)

C. d X e a s w e of Isotropy

TWO methods are commonly used to measure rela- the

-4 n
dY,,
(1)

.p
H+(r, 9, t )
1
=

+1 2 n ( n + 1)
212

[Kah,,yKa)] B

- E e ( T , 8, t )
t

principalwhere
,4
= 2

isotropy tive ofantenna: an I ) Gain Relative to Isotropic, G.M: Thissimply is a direct comparison of the maximum value of the gain function G(0, 4 ) , to unity. 2) Hatf Power or 3-db Beamwidth: Either method is quite useful in the evaluation of an antenna with one omnidirectional characterisof simple tics like the dipole. During the course of this investigation, though, i t became that evident neither of the above two methods was useful as a measure of isotropy of the spherical slot antenna. I n view of this difficulty the notion of coverage factor was introduced as a third possiblemethodandusedwithconsiderablesuccess.

d P n sin BdB sp--a de

~

5 N. Marcuvitz, Waveguide Handbook,3,rdhxv-Hill Book Co., Inc., Xew York, N. Y .; 1931. 6 The notion of coverage factor will be defined in this paper.

3 ) Cozlcrage Factor RelntizetoIsotropic: 'I'he notion of coverage factor is of interest since some antennas are usuallydesigned as integral parts of a n over-allcommunication system. The transmission characteristics of such a s\-stem most are convenientl>calculated bJassuming an isotropic antenna at both ends of the circuit. I n view of this, it is convenient to define a iunction, expressible a s a simple number, which could serve as a measure of that pnrt of tlze total antema radiation jield surface mhichexreeds a partic-ulnr IeaeI relative t o isotropic. The particular level will i n general be determined by the over-all s ~ - s t e ~ n figure, etc. noise The coverage factor C.F., i n per cent relative to isotropic, can be defined as

or C.F. = 78.1 per cent. This antenna could also be characterizedas a n olnnitlil-ection~11antenna n-ith a 3-db beamwidth of about 78". From these examples it is e\;ident t h a t the coverage factor oi these antennas changes a t a slo\\-er rate than the half-power beamwidth. I t is also ellident t h a t C.F. is a usefuldevicesince i t tends to balame gain increases against. beamwidth decreasPs. T h e C.F. has been introduced as a third measure of antenna anisotropl, and will prove useful i n the evaluation of the spherical slot antenna. I-'rom the results of Section 111 i t will become evident that a C.F. of over 98 per cent is both possible and practical.

Prior to the advent of nlodern digital computers, the usual method of solution was based on a \]:atson transS such that KG(8, 4 ) 2 GO fornution of (1) and (2). The resulting integral where G(0, 4) is the usual gain function relative to iso- equations could be used to constructa geometrical optic tropic and K is the polarization loss factor defined by approximation which i n this case would be valid for all S~helkunoff.~ For the case of a linearly polarized s>'s- 0 in the far field. The accuracl- of this approximation of tem, it is evident that K = 1. I t is also evident t h a t a obviousl>-depends on its order and the magnitude K a . Some comparisons of the exact solution to the geotruly isotropic antenna, G(0, 4) = 1, u-ould yield a C.1:. nletrical optical are available i n the literature for the of 100 per cent for G o5 1. I n order to gain some insight into the role of C.F. it case of slots on cylinder^.^ I n view of the speed of modern digital computers, the is convenient to consider a fen. examples. As a reference, let the comparison be made for a GO of -3-db relative range of kn i n question, to isotropic. a ) Itzjinitesimal electric dipole: \4,'e have,$ G(8, 4)
=

The surface of integration S is detenninetl the by particular level of interest.

I 1 I. THEOKETICIL RESULTS

- sin? 0,
2

G X = 1.76 db.

I t is evident that G(0, r$)>-3 db or - 144.75". Consequently: <

$ for 35.25'50

C.F.

= -2a loo

4T 7

144.75'

sin 0d8

35.26'

or C.F. = 81.5 per cent. This antenna could also be characterized adequately by the second method, asa n omnidirectional antenna with a 3-db beamwidth of 90'. b) Ha(f-wa.oe dipole: IlTe have,8

the accuracy required, and the fact that over 100 patterns were actually calculated, i t became evident that the original harmonic series could be used. I t is of interest to note that the time of calculation for each pattern with incrementsof f" in 0 was about 40 seconds. The necessaryprogramandcomputation were performedunderthedirection of A'Iiss RI. Gray of Bell Laboratories.

.-I. T X o Mode ( E B H6j ,

T h i s mode is oi particular interest sincei t can be used to generate an unusually "isotropic" linearly polarized far field. As noted in Section11, the field in the slot could be excited by a n E Omode in a radial waveguide. A particularlaunchingstructure isdiscussed i n connection with the experimental results in Section 11,'. The numerical analysis was restricted to spheres of from 1 to 20 wavelengths i n diameter in increments of one wavelength. Slot heights of three-quarter, one-half, and infinitesimal size were considered for each diameter
9 L. L. Bailin and R. J. Spellmire, "Convergent representations for the radiation fields from slots, in large circular cylinders," I R E TRANS. AKTENNAS ASD PROPIGITIOK, AP-5, pp. 374-382; ON vol. October, 1957. I n particular, see Fig. 3 on p. 377.

G.tf

2 . 1 1 db

I t is evident that G(0, 4 ) >_ -3 db or 5 140.5'. Consequently:

+ for 39.5"<8

S. Schelkunoff and H. T. Friis, "-Antennas, Theory and Practice," John Wiley andSons, Inc., Yew York, N. Y . , pp. 3 9 b 3 9 3 ; 1952. * J. D. Iiraus,".intennas,"hIcGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc., New York, N.Y . ; 1950.

'

other than the first two. T h e height of the slot was restricted to less than one wavelength by multimode considerations in any practical launching structure. In general, the points of interest are the changes of antennagain,radiatingpatternandcoveragefactor withchangesinthediameter of thesphere,andthe height of the slot. 1) d n t e n n u Gain: All antenna gains were calculated relative to isotropic. The gain in the equatorial plane (8= 90) for the case of a 6 (infinitesimal) slot has been plotted as a function of the diameter d of the sphere in Fig. 2. Some earlier results to dueSlushiake and b:ebster3 for small spheres has been included for reference. I t is evident that the gairin the equatorial plane for this size slot is asymptotic to about - 2 d b a s t h e diameter of thesphereincreasesto 20 wavelengths. The reason for the negative value will be apparent from an inspection of the radiation patterns to follow. The change i n gain in the equatorial plane with increasing slot size b is also of interest. From elementar>aperture theor!. one would expect the gain i n this directiontoincreasewithincreasingslotsize. I n order to illustrate this change, some of the results of the exact computationhavebeenplotted as Fig. 3. Resultsfor

D -2

FIG.2 - G a i n at 8=90 as a function of the diameter of the sphere.

TMomode, 6 slot.
&-Bugnolo 0-Mushiake

& bebster3

other diameters are available request. The results for on the TE1 modeareincludedforfuturereferenceand direct comparison. 2 ) Rudiation Patterm: A411radiationpatterns were calculated with incrementsof t oin 8 and ind b relative to the magnitude squared in the equatorial plane. Some of the results have been plotted as Figs. 4 and 5. The gain in the equatorial plane relative to isotropic is included so that the various patterns can be compared with each other. An inspection of these results showsthat the gain as a function of 8, G(8), exceeds some arbitrary level such as -3 d b relatire to isotropic over a very large part of the far field. Also, the relative isotropyof the antenna increases with increasing diameter decreases and with increasing slot height. T h e special case of a 6 (infinitesimal) slot isof particular interest. From Figs. 4 and 5 i t is evident that this antenna is quite nearly isotropic provided the sqrstem is not adversely affected by the oscillatory nature of the field intensity.Keedlessto say, somecommunication systems can be so designed. 3) Coaeruge Factor: The coverage factor in per cent was defined by (3). In order compare to the TM mode to the dipole antenna, t is convenient to calculate i the C.F. for a Go of - 3 d b relntive to isotropic. T h e results are summarized in TableI for the principal or first equatorial lobe. Two tendencies are immediately evident. For spheres of diameter less than 6 wavelengths the coverage factor increaseswithincreasingslotsize;forspheres of diameter greater than 6 wavelengths the opposite is true. .Also, thelargestcoveragefactorcanbeobtainedby using a very small slot on a large sphere. 4 ) Conzments: From inspection of the radiation patterns i t is evident that the large coverage factors are obtained at the expense of oscillations of the pattern. The depthof the minima can be quite large as compared with the magnitude of the maxima. However, it is of importancetonotethatthedepth of theminima is never large relative to isotropic. This is the characteristic that results in a large coverage factor. The usefulness of this antenna therefore depends explicitly the on ability of the over-all system to handle these fluctuations. One possible example of such a system is an active satellite communication network.

B. TE1 X o d e (E+,He)
This mode is of interest since it can be used t o generate a far field in space and time quadrature with the TA.10 mode. As noted in Section 11, the field in the slot could be excited by the H mode in a radial waveguide. 1 A particular launching structure isdiscussed in connection with the experimental results ir, Section IV. The numerical analysis was restricted to spheres of from 2 t o 20 wavelengths in diameter in increments of

Fig. 3-Gain in the equatorial plane asa function of the aperture height and in wavelengths.

one wavelength. Slot heights of one-half, three-quarter and one wavelength were considered for each dianleter other than thefirst two. I n general, the points of interest a r e the changes i n antenna gain, radiation patter11 and coverage factor n i t h chal~gesi n thediameter of thesphere: and the

Fig. 5-Theoretical

radiation patterns, T3Io mode.

calculated with increments of toi n c and i n tlh rrlatille 9 to the magnitude squared i n the equutorial plane. Some of the results have been plotted as Figs. 8 and 9. The gain i n the equatorial plane relntive to isotropic is i n cluded so that the various patterns can be compared with each other. From inspection of these results i t is evident that the patterns more or less resemble those o f a maglletic dinole withtheaddition of a few minor "lol~es"i n the vicinity of the poles, (O=O. r j . I n view of t h i s , it follon~s that the TE1 mode is less "isotropic"thallthe T1.10 mode. 3j Coverage Factor: The coverage factor i l l per cent was calculated for a G , of -3 d b as i n the case of the dipole and T3Io nlotle antenna. Theresults in this case are q u i t e interesting.The analyses indicate that the coverage factor for ;Lgiven slot height is indfpendenf of thediameter of thesphere

382

IRE TRANSACTIONS O N AIYTENNAS AND PROPAGATION

for diameters of from 4 to 20 wavelengths. Hence

JdY

86.6

forb = X/2

%,c.F. (79.9
for
Fig. 6-Gain in the equatorial plane as a function of the diameter of the sphere. TEI mode, X/2 slot.

for b

3x/4

4 X

I d I 2OX.

In effect, the size of the sphere does not affect the system capabilities of the antenna from this pointof view. 4 ) Commetzts: As noted previously, the infinitesimal dipole antenna hasa coverage factor of 81.15 per cent. I t follows that the TE1 mode compares favorably. Thisresult may at first appear trivial; however, it should be notedthatapplicationsexist so thatthe TE1 mode spherical slot antenna can be constructedas an integral part of thecompletesystem. A magneticdipoleantenna would require a supporting structure. This and the proximity of theremainder of thesystemwoulddecrease the C.F. of the dipole to a figure well below 81.5 per cent. The active satellite communication network is one possible example of such a system.

IV. SOME EXPERIMENTAL EXAMPLES The experimental models of the TMo and TE, mode
antennas were designed to operate in the X band (8-12 kMc). Two wooden spherical hemispheres 24 inches in diameter were rigidly attached to the platesthe radial of waveguide. The structure was covered with thin sheets of copperfoil.Over-alltolerancesonthehemispheres were less than 1/10 inch. Access to the interior of the hemispheres was providedby two removable caps about 4 inches in diameter located a t t h e poles. This location was desirable to minimize the physical variations in the $ direction and to locate the capsa region of minimum I in surface current. A photograph of the model is shown in Fig. 10. ThesourceproblemwassolvedbyusinganEsaki diode resonant-slot oscillator supplied by W M. Sharp. less of Bell Laboratories. T h e small source and its power supply were easily positioned completely within the sphere.

Fig. 8-Theoretical

radiation patterns, TEI mode.

Fig. 9-Theoretical

radiation patterns, TEl mode.

Fig. 10-A 24inch spherical slot antenna.

3 83
A.

TJlo X o d e (EO, H,)

1 ) Small Slot, b = 0.3 Inch: For this case the oscillator was coupled directly to the center of the radial waveguide by a probe from a 50-ohm coaxial line. One example of the far-field radiationintensitypatternhas been reproduced as Fig. 11 for a frequency of 8.65 kMc. This corresponds to a spherical diameter of 17.6 wavelengths and a slot height of 0.22 wavelength. The pattern in the equatorial plane was a circle to within 0.5 db. 2 ) L a r g e Slot, b=0.843 Inch: Forcase this the oscillator was coupled to the launching structure through a 50-ohm coaxial line. T h e launching structure consisted of a 50-ohm biconical. line which i n turn fed the radial waveguide a t a point where its impedance was ohms. 50 This resulted i n a very broad-band low \,'S\VR match, between coaxial and radial the line the waveguide. One example of the far-field radiation intensity pattern has been reproduced as Fig. 12 for a frequencl: of 9.75 khlc. spherical This a to corresponds diameter of about 20 wavelengths and a slot height of about 0.7 wavelength.

Fig. ll--Esperi~nent;ll radiation pattern TlIo mode, d = li.6X, h = 0 . 2 X

D 10 20 30 Fig. 12-Experimental radiation pattern T310mode. d = ZOX, h =O.iX.

B. T E 1 X o d e (E,, H s )
For this case the oscillator was coupled to the radial waveguide by a transition section from TElo rectangular to TEol circular mode in a ?-inch pipe. T h e purit). of the circular electric mode was insured by a section of helically loaded pipe. The transition section was supplied by J . J-oung of Bell Laboratories. One example of the far-field radiation intensity pattern been has reproduced as Fig. 13 for a frequency of 10 k l l c . This correspondstoasphericaldiameter of about 20 wavelengths and a slot height of about 0.7 wavelength. I n general, i t is possible to conclude that the experimental results agree with theoretical the within the limits of accuracy of the experiments.

Fig. 13-Esperime1ltal radiation pattern ,. mode, d=20X, b = O . i i . IE,

compares favorably with thatof a small magnetic dipole without the severe bandn-idth limitations usual1~- associated with small antennas.

V. CONCLFSIONS
Thus, i t is possible to conclude that this antenna is a useful device for radiation i n the microwave spectrum. T h e TkIo mode antenna can be designed to 1-ield a considerable increase in coverage factor over t h a t of a n infinitesimal dipole. I t is also evident that this antenna could be designed for extremely large bandwidths. T h e T E l mode antenna has a coverage factor that

VI.

.~CIiNO\\-I.I~DG~~-IENT

Needless to say, a numerical and experimental project of this magnitude requires co~~siderable assistance. I n particular,theauthor would like tothank A\. B. Crawford of Bell Laboratories for his man). interesting discussions. T h e necessar?- programming and computations were performed by hliss 31. Gra>-, Airs. C . L. Heattie and 3Iiss P. Ilnmilton oi I3ell Laboratories.