Linear Wire Antennas

Ranga Rodrigo
August 24, 2010
Lecture notes are fully based on Balanis [?]. Some diagrams and text are directly
from the books.
Contents
1 Innitesimal Dipole 1
2 Small Dipole 7
3 Finite-Length Dipole 9
Wire antennas, linear or curved, are some of the oldest, simplest, cheap-
est, and in many cases the most versatile for many applications.
1 Innitesimal Dipole
An innitesimal linear wire (l ) is positioned symmetrically at the ori-
gin of the coordinate system and oriented along the z axis.
The spatial variation of the current is assumed to be constant and given
by
I (z

) = a
z
I
0
where I
0
is a constant.
1
The source only carries an electric current I
e
. I
m
and the potential func-
tion F are zero. To nd A we write
A(x, y, z) =

4
_
C
I
e
(x

, y

, z

)
e
j kR
R
dl

.
where
(x, y, z) : Observation point coordinates.
(x

, y

, z

) : Coordinates of the source.

R : The distance from any point on the source to the observation point.
C : Path along the length of the source.
I
e
(x

, y

, z

) = a
z
I
0
.
x

=0, y

=0, z

=0, for the innitesimal dipole.

R =
_
(x x

)
2
+(y y

)
2
+(z z

)
2
=
_
x
2
+y
2
+z
2
=r (constant).
dl

=dz

.
A(x, y, z) = a
z
I
0
4
e
j kr
_
l /2
l /2
dz

= a
z
I
0
l
4
e
j kr
.
x
y
z

(x

, y

, z

)
(x, y, z)
2
Next: H
A
: H
A
=
1

A, E
A
: H
A
= J + j E
A
. Transformation from
rectangular to spherical coordinates:
_
_
A
r
A

_
_
=
_
_
sincos sinsin cos
coscos cossin sin
sin cos 0
_
_
_
_
A
x
A
y
A
z
_
_
A
x
=0, A
y
=0, A
z
=0.
A
r
= A
z
cos =
I
0
l e
j kr
4r
cos.
A

=A
z
sin =
I
0
l e
j kr
4r
sin.
A

=0.
A =
a
r
r sin
_

(A

sin)

_
+
a

r
_
1
sin

A
r

r
(r A

)
_
+
a

r
_

r
(r A

A
r
_
H =
1

r
_

r
(r A

A
r
_
H
r
= H

=0.
H

= j
kI
0
l sin
4r
_
1+
1
j kr
_
e
j kr
.
E =E
A
=
1
j
H.
E
r
=
I
0
l cos
2r
2
_
1+
1
j kr
_
e
j kr
.
E

= j
kI
0
l sin
4r
_
1+
1
j kr

1
(kr )
2
_
e
j kr
.
E

=0.
The E and H components are valid everywhere except on the source itself.
3
x
y
z

, E

, H

, E

, H

a
r
, E
r
, H
r
Power Density and Radiation Resistance
For a lossless antenna, the real part of the input impedance is designated
as the radiationresistance, that power is transferredfromthe guidedwave
to the free space wave.
W =
1
2
E H

=
1
2
( a
r
E
r
+ a

)
_
a

_
.
=
1
2
_
a
r
E

E
r
H

_
.
W
r
=

8

I
0
l

2
sin
2

r
2
_
1 j
1
(kr )
3
_
.
W

= j
k|I
0
l |
2
cossin
16
2
r
3
_
1+ j
1
(kr )
2
_
.
The complex power moving int eh radial direction
P =

S
W ds =
_
2
0
_

0
( a
r
W
r
+a

) a
r
r
2
sindd
=
_
2
0
_

0
W
r
r
2
sindd
=

I
0
l

2
_
1 j
1
(kr )
3
_
.
4
The transverse component W

does not contribute to the integrals. Thus P

does not represent the total complex power radiated by the antenna. W

is
purely imaginary, and does not contribute to any real radiated power. It con-
tributes to the imaginary (reactive) power.
The reactive power density, which is most dominant for small values of kr ,
has both radial and transverse components. It merely changes between out-
ward and inward directions to form a standing wave at a rate twice per cycle. It
also moves in the transverse direction.
Time average power radiated is
p
rad
=
_

3
_

I
0
l

2
.
For large values of kr (kr 1), the reactive power diminishes. For free space
120,
R
rad
=
_
2
3
__
l

_
2
=80
2
.
_
l

_
2
.
Near-Field Region kr 1
E
r
j
I
0
l e
j kr
2kr
3
cos.
E

j
I
0
l e
j kr
4kr
3
sin.
E

= H
r
= H

=0.
H

I
0
l e
j kr
4r
sin.
E
r
and E

are in time-phase. E
r
and E

are in time-phase quadrature with H

.
Therefore, there is no time-average power ow associated with them.
Intermediate-Field Region kr >1
E
r

I
0
l e
j kr
2kr
2
cos.
E

j
kI
0
l e
j kr
4kr
sin.
E

= H
r
= H

=0.
H

j
kI
0
l e
j kr
4r
sin.
5
E
r
and E

approach time-phase quadrature. They forma rotating vector whose

tip traces and ellipse in a plane parallel to the direction of propagation: cross
eld.
Far Field kr 1
E

j
kI
0
l e
j kr
4kr
sin.
E
r
E

= H
r
= H

=0.
H

j
kI
0
l e
j kr
4r
sin.
The ratio of E

to H

is equal to
Z
w
=
E

.
where Z
w
is the wave impedance and is the intrinsic impedance (377 120
for free-space.) E- and H-eld components are perpendicular to each other,
transverse to the direction of propagation, and r variations are separable from
those of and . This relationship is applicable in the far-eld region of all
antennas of nite dimensions.
Directivity
The average power density
W
av
=
1
2
Re
_
E H

_
= a
r
1
2
|E

|
2
= a
r

kI
0
l
4

2
sin
2

r
2
.
The radiation intensity
U =r
2
W
av
=

2

kI
0
l
4

2
sin
2
=
r
2
2

(r, , )

2
.
The maximum value occurs at =/2:
U
max
=

2

kI
0
l
4

2
.
D
0
=4
U
max
P
rad
=
3
2
.
6
The maximum effective aperture
A
em
=
_

2
4
_
D
0
=
3
2
8
.
P
rad
=
1
2
|I
0
|
2
R
rad
.
R
rad
=
2
3
_
l

_
2
.
2 Small Dipole
The current distribution of the innitesimal dipole (l < /50) is I
0
, a constant.
For a small dipole (/50 l /10) the triangular current distribution approx-
imation must be used.
|I |
I
0
z
The current distribution is
I
e
(x

, y

, z

) =
_
a
z
I
0
_
1
2
l
z

_
, 0 z

l
2
,
a
z
I
0
_
1+
2
l
z

_
,
l
2
z

0.
A(x, y, z) =

4
_
a
z
_
0
l /2
I
0
_
1+
2
l
z

_
e
j kR
R
dz

+ a
z
_
l /2
0
I
0
_
1
2
l
z

_
e
j kR
R
dz

_
.
Because the overall length of the dipole is small, the value of R for different
values of z

along the length of the wire are not much different fromr .
7
x
y
z
dz

l /2
l /2
r
P(r, , )
R
=

Maximum phase error due to the assumption R r is

kl
2
=

10
=18

for /10.
A = a
z
A
z
= a
z
1
2
_
I
0
e
j kr
4r
_
,
which is one half of that obtained in the previous section for the innitesimal
dipole.
Far-Zone Fields, kr 1
E

j
kI
0
l e
j kr
8kr
sin.
E
r
E

= H
r
= H

=0.
H

j
kI
0
l e
j kr
8r
sin.
Directivity and the maximumeffective area are the same as for the innitesimal
dipole.
R
rad
=
2P
rad
|I
0
|
2
=20
2
_
l

_
2
which is 1/4 of the value for the innitesimal dipole.
8
3 Finite-Length Dipole
We can analyze the radiation characteristics of a dipole with any length us-
ing magnetic vector potential A. For a thin, center-fed nite-length dipole
(l /10, d ), the approximate current distribution can be written as
I
e
(x

=0, y

=0, z

) =
_
_
_
a
z
I
0
sin
_
k
_
l
2
z

__
, 0 z

l
2
,
a
z
I
0
sin
_
k
_
l
2
+z

__
,
l
2
z

0.
In the far eld, we have, z

r ,

. For amplitude: R r . For phase:

R r z

cos.
x
y
z
dz

l /2
l /2
r
P(r, , )
R
=

x
y
z
dz

P(r, , )
r
R
=

Maximum phase error due to the assumption R r is

kl
2
=

10
=18

for /10.
A(x, y, z) =

4
_
C
I
e
(x

, y

, z

)
e
j kR
R
dl

.
A(x, y, z) =
e
j kR
4r
_
C
I
e
(x

, y

, z

)e
j kz

cos
dz

.
The nite dipole antenna is subdivided into a number of innitesimal dipoles
of length z

. For an innitesimal dipole of length dz

positioned along the

z-axis at z

dE

j kI
e
(x

, y

, z

)e
j kR
4R
sindz

.
dE
r
dE

=dH
r
=dH

=0
dH

j kI
e
(x

, y

, z

)e
j kR
4R
sindz

.
9
Using the far eld approximation
dE

j kI
e
(x

, y

, z

)e
j kr
4r
sine
j kz

cos
dz

.
Summing the contribution from all the innitesimal elements
E

=
_
l /2
l /2
dE

= j
ke
j kr
4r
sin
__
l /2
l /2
I
e
(x

, y

, z

)e
j kz

cos
dz

_
Simplifying
E

j
I
0
e
j kr
2r
_
_
cos
_
kl
2
cos
_
cos
_
kl
2
_
sin
_
_
.
H

j
I
0
e
j kr
2r
_
_
cos
_
kl
2
cos
_
cos
_
kl
2
_
sin
_
_
.
Power Density, Radiation Intensity, and Radiation Resistance
W
av
=
1
2
Re
_
E H

_
=
1
2
Re
_
a

_
=
1
2
Re
_
a

/
_
10