TY - JOUR
T1 - Backscatter Analysis of Dihedral Corner Reflectors Using Physical Optics and the Physical Theory of Diffraction
AU - Griesser, Timothy
AU - Balanis, Constantine
N1 - Funding Information:
He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from Arizona State Univer-sity under a Graduate Research Fellowship from the Office of Naval Research. His interests include high-frequency electromagnetic scattering from conducting and dieleci iric objects, signal detection and prediction, and microwave device tech l0lOgy.
Funding Information:
Manuscript received October 10, 1986; revised April 13, 1987. This work was supported by the NASA Langley Research Center under Grant NAG-1-562 and by the Office of Naval Research through the ONR Graduate Fellowship Program. The authors are with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287. IEEE Log Number 8716381. Some authors prefer to use the term PTD to refer to the combination ofP O and the fringe wave; however, in this paper PTD refers to the fringe wave alone. This usage seems to be more common in practice.
PY - 1987/10
Y1 - 1987/10
N2 - Physical optics (PO) and the physical theory of diffraction (PTD) are used to determine the backscatter cross sections of dihedral corner reflectors in the azimuthal plane for the vertical and horizontal polarizations. The analysis incorporates single, double, and triple reflections; single diffractions; and reflection-diffractions. Two techniques for analyzing these backscatter mechanisms are contrasted. In the first method, geometrical optics (GO) is used in place of physical optics at initial reflections to maintain the planar nature of the reflected wave and subsequently reduce the complexity of the analysis. The objective is to avoid any surface integrations which cannot be performed in closed form. This technique is popular because it is inherently simple and is readily amenable to computer solutions. In the second method, physical optics is used at nearly every reflection to maximize the accuracy of the PTD solution at the expense of a rapid increase in complexity. In this technique, many of the integrations cannot be easily performed, and numerical techniques must be utilized. However, this technique can yield significant improvements in accuracy. In this paper, the induced surface current densities and the resulting cross section patterns are illustrated for these two methods. Experimental measurements confirm the accuracy of the analytical calculations for dihedral corner reflectors with right, acute, and obtuse interior angles.
AB - Physical optics (PO) and the physical theory of diffraction (PTD) are used to determine the backscatter cross sections of dihedral corner reflectors in the azimuthal plane for the vertical and horizontal polarizations. The analysis incorporates single, double, and triple reflections; single diffractions; and reflection-diffractions. Two techniques for analyzing these backscatter mechanisms are contrasted. In the first method, geometrical optics (GO) is used in place of physical optics at initial reflections to maintain the planar nature of the reflected wave and subsequently reduce the complexity of the analysis. The objective is to avoid any surface integrations which cannot be performed in closed form. This technique is popular because it is inherently simple and is readily amenable to computer solutions. In the second method, physical optics is used at nearly every reflection to maximize the accuracy of the PTD solution at the expense of a rapid increase in complexity. In this technique, many of the integrations cannot be easily performed, and numerical techniques must be utilized. However, this technique can yield significant improvements in accuracy. In this paper, the induced surface current densities and the resulting cross section patterns are illustrated for these two methods. Experimental measurements confirm the accuracy of the analytical calculations for dihedral corner reflectors with right, acute, and obtuse interior angles.
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U2 - 10.1109/TAP.1987.1143987
DO - 10.1109/TAP.1987.1143987
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0023436873
SN - 0018-926X
VL - 35
SP - 1137
EP - 1147
JO - IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation
JF - IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation
IS - 10
ER -