Design and Optimization of Periodic Antenna Arrays for Grating-Lobe Suppression and Improved Radiation Performance

Periodic antenna arrays are widely employed in modern wireless communication, radar, satellite communication, and sensing systems because of their ability to provide high directivity, beam steering, and flexible radiation control. However, the use of periodic element spacing can produce grating lobes when the inter-element spacing becomes electrically large, particularly during wide-angle beam steering. These unwanted radiation maxima can reduce antenna efficiency, create angular ambiguities, and degrade overall system performance. This research presents the design and optimization of a periodic antenna array aimed at suppressing grating lobes while improving key radiation characteristics. The proposed approach investigates the effects of element spacing, excitation amplitude, progressive phase distribution, element geometry, and mutual coupling on the far-field radiation pattern. Analytical array-factor calculations are combined with full-wave numerical electromagnetic analysis to evaluate the performance of the proposed configuration. The study further investigates the influence of array spacing and beam-steering angle on grating-lobe formation and scan performance. The proposed design methodology provides an effective trade-off between grating-lobe suppression, aperture utilization, radiation efficiency, and implementation complexity. The results demonstrate that appropriate optimization of the periodic lattice and excitation parameters can significantly improve the radiation performance of phased antenna arrays.

Grating lobes, element spacing, beam steering, periodic lattice, phased antenna arrays

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