Impacts of different arm structures of reflector IRA: Wire, coplanar plate, and bi-conical arms

Impulse radiating antennas (IRAs) are designed for radiating high voltage electromagnetic pulses. A four-arm parabolic reflector IRA is one of the most widly used IRAs for its strong boresight radiation field and high directivity. This paper investigates IRA models using software simulation developed based on the Method of Moment (MoM). The models are validated through comparisons with available theoretical and measurement results. Based on the IRA models, three types of radiation arm structures, wire, coplanar plate and bi-conical, are studied. This is to exam the impact of the radiation arm structures on the reflector IRAs. The results indicate that the coplanar plate arm IRA provides better antenna gain and radiation field performance in the frequency and time domain than the wire arm IRA, and the bi-conical arm IRA, similarly, performs better than the coplanar plate arm IRA.