A rigorous integral approach for conductor losses modelling in RLSA antennas

This paper presents a rigorous but efficient Method of Moments (MoM) formulation for the analysis of Radial Line Slot Array (RLSA) antennas, which includes the finite conductivity of metals. First, by using both equivalence and reciprocity theorems, effective magnetic currents are defined on each slot aperture, instead of standard electric and magnetic equivalent currents. This choice halves the number of unknowns of the MoM linear system, still preserving the rigor of the electromagnetic formulation. Next, proper Green's functions accounting for the finite conductivity of metals are derived analytically and used in the MoM admittance matrix expressions. A few RLSA realizations are analyzed to investigate the effect of ohmic losses in a practical antenna design.