Solution to the Broadside Problem and Symmetry Properties in Periodic Leaky-Wave Antennas

188 Pages·2016·4.28 MB·English

by  Simon Otto

Simon Otto

Solution to the Broadside Problem
and Symmetry Properties of
Periodic Leaky-Wave Antennas
Von der Fakultät für Ingenieurwissenschaften der
Abteilung Elektrotechnik und Informationstechnik
der Universität Duisburg-Essen
zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades
Doktor der Ingenieurwissenschaft
genehmigte Dissertation
von
Simon Otto
aus
Oberhausen
Erster Gutachter: Professor Dr.-Ing. Klaus Solbach
Zweiter Gutachter: Professor Christophe Caloz, Eng., Ph.D.
Tag der mündlichen Prüfung:
18. April 2016

Solution to the Broadside Problem and
Symmetry Properties of Periodic Leaky-Wave Antennas
Von der Fakultät für Ingenieurwissenschaften der
Abteilung Elektrotechnik und Informationstechnik
der Universität Duisburg-Essen
zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades
Doktor der Ingenieurwissenschaft
genehmigte Dissertation von
Dipl.-Ing. Simon Otto, geboren am 13. Mai 1978 in Oberhausen
Erster Gutachter: Professor Dr.-Ing. Klaus Solbach
Fachgebiet Hochfrequenztechnik (HFT)
Universität Duisburg-Essen, Deutschland
Zweiter Gutachter: Professor Christophe Caloz, Eng., Ph.D.
Department of Electrical Engineering
Polytechnique Montréal, Canada
Einreichung vorgelegte Dissertation am: 16. Oktober 2015
Mündliche Prüfung am: 18. April 2016
Veröffentlichung genehmigte Dissertation am: 18. Juli 2016
Vorgelete Version:
Kompiliertam15.10.2015-20:56:11,GITCommitvom: 2015-10-1520:55:57+0200,GITHash: f2fd2a6
Genehmigte Version:
Kompiliert am 7.7.2016 - 14:14:21, GIT Commit vom: 2016-07-07 14:14:07 +0200, GIT Hash: 5298fe2
Genehmigte Version (Web):
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For My Loved Ones
Rina
Sophie & Joshua

Acknowledgments
The road to completing this dissertation and making my dream come true has been a long
one. Many people have supported me with their individual skills and abilities, helping
me to reach the end of this arduous but rewarding project. Pursuing the Ph.D. part-time
while working half-time as a researcher at the University of Duisburg-Essen and the other
half as a project manager at IMST GmbH, I can only call myself lucky to have had such
wonderful colleagues from both institutions.
This doctoral thesis is the culmination of a long research collaboration between Professor
ChristopheCalozatPolytechniqueMontréalinCanadaandmeduringmydoctoralstudies
at the University of Duisburg-Essen in Germany. My sincere thanks to Professor Caloz
for keeping up our long-distance research collaboration all these years. This collaboration
has called for countless video chat sessions about papers or to debate the latest research
results. Christophe, your fantastic interest in this work motivated me tremendously.
My thanks also to Professor Klaus Solbach, University of Duisburg-Essen, for employing
me as a researcher in his department and giving me his full support. Professor Solbach
gave me the freedom to find my own research path even as he kept his office door open
whenever I needed his guidance. This freedom is something for which I will be forever
grateful.
I am truly appreciative of my friends and colleagues at the Hochfrequenztechnik depart-
ment(HFT)attheUniversityofDuisburg-Essen. Forsomanyyears,thepositiveinfluence
of Rolf Küppers and Paul Lehmann ensured that we had a warm, companionable work
environment characterized by a perfect team spirit. Each, with his individually great
character and personality, showed wonderful kindness toward my colleagues and me, even
in our lives beyond the university. Rolf, we were all devastated when you suddenly left
this world—and us. We miss you very much! Let me deeply thank you for all you have
done for me.
Let me also express my gratitude to my long-time research friend Andreas Rennings.
Andreas, you made the combination of research and fun perfectly logical—a rare feat.
Thank you so much for all we have accomplished together.
I would like to thank my former bachelor’s and master’s students for choosing me as their
supervisor. Many of you have contributed a lot to this work. In particular, I mention
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Zhichao Chen and Amar Al-Bassam. When we first knew each other, you both were still
doing your undergraduate studies, and now you are finalizing your own Ph.Ds. It was a
real pleasure to work with you and to see you progress in academia. During my own Ph.D.
studies our relationship moved from supervision to friendship, a transformation that has
been rewarding and enjoyable. Thank you so much.
TomyfriendsandcolleaguesintheAntenna&EMModelingDepartmentatIMSTGmbH,
I say thank you, because working with you has always been pleasant and respectful.
During my challenging part-time pursuit of the Ph.D., you always made me feel like an
integral part of the team, even though my presence was naturally limited. I think this
inclusion should not be taken for granted. It is rather the result of many kind coworkers
organized in a good team which I am thankful to be a part of.
A very special person on this team is Andreas Lauer, to whom I express my particular
gratitude. You have an extremely bright mind and you are always up for lively scientific
discussions, though I must admit I had some difficulties keeping up with you here and
there. Thank you very much for coaching me in hard times, when the end of the road
was still far from sight.
Ismael Nistal, my former officemate at IMST, thank you for putting up with sharing an
office with me for so many years before you returned to Spain, your home country. I
really appreciate our great office atmosphere and admire your discipline. Flying in from
Spain to attend my dissertation defense was the perfect surprise and an honor for me, my
friend!
Finalizing a manuscript can be a demanding and sometimes even painful task, and it’s
always helpful to have a second pair of eyes. Here, I got additional support from my IMST
colleagues Jordi Balcells-Ventura, Tassilo Gernandt, and Jürgen Kunisch—my second,
third, and fourth pairs of eyes—who helped me to eliminate errors in various parts of the
manuscript, thus improving its final form. Thank you all for giving me your time.
My reaching the end of this Ph.D. road would not have been possible without my family
and friends backing me up. On countless occasions, I took a pass on social gatherings
with friends to focus on my work. Yet they were always understanding and never gave
up on me socially. Thanks, guys—I am back now!
What’s more, my brother-in-law, Kyle Hollingsworth, a native English speaker and a
lawyer, offered the ideal combination of knowledge and precision to help me to shape up
my English wording. Thanks so much, Kyle, for your feedback.
At this point, I must thank my best friend Robin Aly, who truly knows me better than I
do myself. Knowing me for so many years, and going through your own Ph.D. studies, you
helped me to overcome those inevitably frustrating moments in my dissertation writing
period. Your mentoring skills are amazing, and I really appreciate our close friendship.
Last but not least, I want to thank the most important persons in my life, my wife Rina
and our kids, for their encouragement, patience, and belief in my ability to finalize this
project. Without you, there would be no meaning to any of this.
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