Progress in Electromagnetic Research Symposium 2004, Pisa, Italy, March 28 - 31

Horn Antennas Analysis Using a Hybrid Mode Matching-Auxiliary Sources

Technique
S.G. Diamantis
Democritus University of
Thrace, Microwaves Lab.
Xanthi, GREECE
sdiamant@ee.duth.gr

A.P. Orfanidis
Democritus University of
Thrace,
Xanthi, GREECE
aorfan@xan.duth.gr

G. A. Kyriacou
Democritus University of
Thrace, Microwaves Lab.
Xanthi, GREECE
gkyriac@ee.duth.gr

J. N. Sahalos
Aristotle University of
Thessaloniki,
Thessaloniki, GREECE
sahalos@auth.gr

Abstract
A Hybrid technique for the analysis of pyramidal horn antennas is proposed in this paper. The
transition from a relatively small feeding waveguide to a larger radiating aperture is analyzed using the
mode matching technique, while the discontinuity between the horn and free space is analyzed using
the method of auxiliary sources. The resulting procedure is very stable and accurate while the
computational time is quite small since all the coupling integrals involved in the mode matching are
evaluated analytically.
I. Introduction
The proposed hybrid method aims at the accurate prediction of the return loss and the radiation
pattern of horn antennas. Approximate methods used in the past for the analysis of this type of
antennas failed to accurately calculate the VSWR as well as the far-out sidelobes and backlobe
radiation patterns. A hybrid method was proposed in [1] for the analysis of conical horn antennas,
where the Mode Matching Technique (MMT) was used for the evaluation of the scattering parameters
of the antenna and the method of moments for the analysis of the transition between the horn and the
free space. This method, restricted to circularly symmetric structures, proved to be very accurate. Liu
et al [2], proposed a similar technique for the analysis of rectangular horn antennas.
In the proposed paper the horn antenna is divided into a series of waveguide sections and step
junctions, which are analyzed using a closed-form MMT developed in our previous work [3]. In this
manner the field within the horn as well as on its aperture can be described by the MMT. In [3] we
assumed that the aperture was a perfect termination for all the incident waveguide modes. This
approximation causes inaccuracies, especially in the antenna input impedance and when the aperture
electrical dimensions are relatively small (in terms of wavelengths). In order to overcome this shortcome this paper aims at the characterization of the aperture discontinuity as an imperfect junction
between the horn and the free space. The resulting hybrid technique can accurately and efficiently
evaluate the return loss and the radiation characteristics of the antenna under investigation. This is due
to the closed form representation of the coupling integrals involved in the MMT, while the key feature
of the MAS is the displacement of the location of the auxiliary sources with respect to the actual
boundary. This last feature provides a non-vanishing distance between sources and observation points,
leading to a stable numerical code. Moreover, this procedure is applicable to any waveguide or horn
geometries, but it could also be applied to other structure like the leaky waveguides.
II. Formulation
An indicative example of the problem geometry is shown in Fig. 1. The field outside the horn is
expressed as an expansion of auxiliary sources (AS) in a manner similar to [4], where the field of each
source satisfies the radiation condition. Electric and magnetic Hertzian dipoles are assumed as AS
located on a plane parallel to the horn aperture, placed inside the horn and at a very small distance
from the aperture (Fig.1). This is the first approach assumed herein however the AS can be distributed
over any arbitrary surface. For example, their density could be higher near the horn edges. The field
continuity conditions are then enforced on an appropriate number of points (collocation points) on the
aperture, equating the field solution inside the horn (from MMT) with the outside (AS expansion). The
resulting system of equations is solved in order to express the weighting factors of the AS expansion
in terms of coefficients of the eigenmode expansion used by the MMT for the waveguide section just
before the aperture. This step is required in order to decouple the number of sources from the number
of the modes. The horn aperture scattering parameters are then obtained by equating the integrals of
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Progress in Electromagnetic Research Symposium 2004, Pisa, Italy, March 28 - 31

the two expansions over the aperture and exploiting the waveguide eigenmodes orthogonality
properties.
The transition from a relatively small feeding waveguide to a larger radiating aperture can be
simplified by simulating this transition by a multistepped waveguide structure. As a first step, these
discontinuities are analyzed using the Mode Matching technique. The next step is the evaluation of the
discontinuity between the horn aperture and free space, which is analyzed using the Method of
Auxiliary Sources. The explicit procedure is described in the following paragraphs.

Figure 1. Geometry of a horn antenna, with auxiliary sources located at the horn aperture.

II.1. Mode Matching Analysis

Following the standard mode matching approach, each waveguide step discontinuity can be
considered as a two-port network characterized by its generalized scattering parameters [S], which are
expressed as [6, p.16]:
BI S11 S12 FI
II =
II
F S21 S22 B

(1)

where F , F II represent the forward and B I , B II the backward travelling wave phasors. Expressions
(1) can be written as a function of the coupling integrals [Q] as [6]:

[I ]
[S] = t
[ Q]

[Q] [I ]
[I ] [Q]t
1

The coupling integrals are defined by [5]:

1
Q pq = YpI
2

[Q]
[I]

( ) (Y )
1/ 2

II 1 / 2
q

e pI eqII ds

(2)

(3)

S0

where Y pI , and YqII are the pth and qth mode characteristic admittance of the first and second
waveguide respectively, while e Ip and e qII are the corresponding mode eigenfunctions for the two
waveguides. These coupling integrals are expressed in analytical form in [3] for the case of cylindrical
and coaxial waveguides and in [5] for rectangular waveguides.
II. 2. Method of Auxiliary Sources.
In order to evaluate the effect of the discontinuity between the horn aperture and free space we make
use of the Method of Auxiliary sources [4]. The major steps for the application of the method are as
follows. First, the electromagnetic field at the aperture waveguide is expanded into a modal series, e.g.
Collin [8, p. 354], Marcuvitz [19, p.72] and the components transverse to the propagation axis-z are
expressed as:

e (r ) / Y

Et
p
pz
p z p

( r ) = Fp e Bp e

p=1
Ht
h p ( r ) Yp

(4)

while, the tangential electric field at the horn aperture can be expressed as a function of the vector
potential A and the scalar potential as:
r
r
r
(r ) tan = j A( r ) tan ( r ) tan
(5)
These potentials are:

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Progress in Electromagnetic Research Symposium 2004, Pisa, Italy, March 28 - 31

r
A (r ) =
4

r
h ( r , Rn ) J n

1
(r) =
4

h ( r, R )
n

r r
jk r R

n
e
h(r , Rn ) = r r
r Rn

and

(6)

where J and are the unknown currents and charge densities, R=(X, Y, Z) is the position vector of
these currents, r=(x, y, z) is the observation point vector and k the free space wave number. The
aperture surface has been discretized as shown in Fig. 2.

Figure 2. Appropriate distribution of the auxiliary sources.

The charge n and in turn the scalar potential can be expressed as a function of the unknown currents
Jn using (9):
n = . J n / j
(7)
Substituting (6) into (5) the Ex and Ey field components generated from the AS is:

Ex (r ) = j

1
N
h ( r , Rn ) J nx +
4 n=1
4 jx 2

+ h ( r, R ) J
N

+
n

n=1

E y ( r ) = j

+ h ( r , R ) J
N

x
n+1

n =1

x
n 1

N
N
+

x
h ( r , Rn ) h ( r , Rn ) J n
n=1

n=1

N
N
1

+

y
,
h ( r , Rn ) J ny +

h
r
R

( n ) h ( r , Rn ) J n
4 n=1
4 jy 2 n=1
n=1

(8)

(9)

+ h ( r , Rn+ ) J ny+1 + h ( r , Rn ) J ny1

n=1
n=1

where,
( x ( X + x )) 2 + ( y Y ) 2 + ( z Z ) 2

R =
( x X ) 2 + ( y (Y + y ))2 + ( z Z ) 2
+
n

( x ( X x )) 2 + ( y Y ) 2 + ( z Z ) 2

R =
( x X ) 2 + ( y ( Y y ))2 + ( z Z ) 2

for

Ex

for

Ey

In a matrix form the electric field given in (4) for the waveguide side, which is described by MMT, at
the horn aperture is expressed as:
(10)
[E ]MMT = M ( r ) [ F+ B]
Likewise, the electric field generated by the AS, given in (8) and (9) and describing the free space
side, can be written:
where
(11)
[E ]MAS = G ( r ) [J ]
M ( r ) = ep ( r ) / Yp
p

+
,
,
,
G (r ) = x j
h
r
R
h
r
R
h
r
R
h ( r , Rn ) +
h ( r , Rn ) +
+

+
(
)
(
)
(
)

n 1
n +1
n

2
4 n=1
4 jx n =1
n=1

n =1
n =1

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Progress in Electromagnetic Research Symposium 2004, Pisa, Italy, March 28 - 31

N
N

N
1
N
N

+

+
,
,
,
+ y j
h ( r , Rn ) J ny +
h
r
R
+
h
r
R

h
r
R
+
h ( r , Rn )
(
)
(
)
(
)

n 1
n +1
n

2
4 n=1
4 jy n=1
n =1
n =1
n=1

II. 3. Matching the fields at the collocation points.

As a first step we point match the tangential electric and magnetic field components (Ex, E y, Hx, Hy) at
the collocation points. The electric field components expressed in (10) and (11) are forced to be equal
at every collocation point. The resulting linear systems of equations is solved for the unknown current
amplitudes (weighting factors):
1
(12)
[J ] = [G ] [ M ][ F1 + B1 ]
In order to exploit the waveguide eigenfunctions orthogonality properties, we substitute (12) in the
general form of (11) and equate to (10) at the aperture once again, resulting to:
1
(13)
G ( r ) [G ] [ M ][ F1 + B1 ] = M ( r ) [ F2 + B2 ]
Then, we multiply both sides of (11) by the mode eigenfunctions e Ip and integrate over the aperture
surface. Exploiting the orthogonality properties we obtain a linear system of the form:

[Qe ][ F1 + B1 ] = [ F2 + B2 ]

(14)

Where Qe is the coupling matrix for the aperture junction:

[Qe ] = G ( r ) M ( r ) ds [G ] [ M ]
1

(15)

Following the same procedure for the magnetic field we have:

[ Qh ][ F1 B1 ] = [ F2 B2 ]

(16)

Solving (14) and (16) for the unknown forward and backward traveling waves B1 and F2, yields:
1

B1 Q h I Qh I F1
(17)


F = Q
2 e I Q e I B2
The unknown current amplitudes are then calculated by substituting F and B into (12), while using (8)
and (9) the radiation field of the horn antenna can be obtained.

Conclusions
A method for evaluating the effect of the discontinuity between the horn aperture and free space, as
well as the outer metallic body of a horn antenna, is proposed in this paper. This hybrid method
combines the Mode Matching Technique and the Method of Auxiliary Sources. A variety of
rectangular horn antennas are analyzed using the proposed method and the results for the input
impedance and the radiation pattern are compared against measurements available in the literature.
This comparison proved the validity of the proposed hybrid method. Some examples will be presented
at the conference along with proposals for further improvements.
REFERENCES
1. E. Kuhn and V. Hombach, Computer-aided analysis of corrugated horns with axial or ring-loaded radial
slots, 3rd Int. Conf. On Antennas and Propagation, IEE Conference Publication No. 219, Part 1: Antennas,
pp. 127-131, England 1983.
2. K. Liu, C.A. Balanis, C.R. Birtcher and G.C. Barber, Analysis of Pyramidal Horn Antennas Using Moment
Methods, IEEE, Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, vol. 41, No. 10, October 1993, pp.1379-1389.
3. A.P. Orfanidis, G.A. Kyriakou and J.N. Sahalos, A mode matching technique for the study of cylindrical
and coaxial waveguide discontinuities based on a closed form coupling integrals, Transactions on
Microwaves Theory & Techniques, IEEE, May 2000, pp. 880-883.
4. R.S Zaridze, R. Jobava, G. Bit-Banik, D. Karkasbadze, D.P. Economou and N.K. Uzunoglou, The method
of auxiliary sources and scattered field singularities (caustics), Journal of Electromagnetic waves and
applications, vol. 12, 1998, pp. 1491-1507.
5. A.P. Orfanidis and G. Ruggerini, Numerical Representation for Stepped Rectangular Horns, 8th
International Symposium on Theoretical Electrical Engineering, 22-23 September 1995, Thessaloniki,
Greece.
6. J. Uher, J. Bornemann and U. Rosenberg, Waveguide Components for Antenna Feed Systems: Theory and
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