Large radiation-angle leaky-wave antenna array for improved coverage and homogeneity

Motivation: The canonical leaky-wave antenna (LWA) provides novel alternative for travelling-wave (TW) transmission but suffer from limited longitudinal coverage as well as inhomogeneity due to standing-wave (SW) effect. Goal(s): Improve LWA design for improved coverage and homogeneity. Approach: Large beam-angle LWA with high in-plane propagation constant is proposed to achieve continuous wave propagation as well as reduced SW effect. Results: According to numerical simulations, both longitudinal coverage (~two-fold) and homogeneity in transverse plane (28.7%) are improved with large beam-angle 4CH LWA array on a body phantom. Impact: The promising results offer valuable insights into the design of future UHF MRI whole-body transmission systems.