The Directivity of E-Plane, H-Plane and Pyramidal

Horn Antennas
November 23, 2001

Introduction

First introduced in the late nineteenth century, horn antennas were found to be most useful in
high frequency applications such as microwave transmission. The first recorded horn antenna
to appear in an experiment was the pyramidal horn used by J. Chunder Bose in 1897. In a
lecture at the Londons Royal Institution, Bose performed a demonstration using the horn,
which he referred to as a collecting funnel at an operating frequency of 60 GHz.
The most commonly used horns today are pyramidal and conical, which can be manufactured in many shapes and sizes. For the purposes of this lecture, we will look at the pyramidal
horn and the E and H-plane horn of which it is comprised. These notes derive the formulas
for the e-plane horn but leave all other derivations up to the reader.

Aperture and radiated fields of the E-Plane Horn

An E-plane horn antenna is an aperture antenna that is flared in the direction of the E-field.
This results in radiated fields that have a high directivity in the E-plane of the antenna. A
detailed geometry for a E-plane antenna is given in Figure 1.
From Balanis the aperture fields for the E-Plane Horn are

Figure 1: E-Plane Horn Antenna. Taken from course Text, Antenna Theory by C. Balanis.

Ez0 = Ex0 = Hy0 = 0

ky 02

j[
]
Ey0 (x0 , y 0 )
= E1 cos( x0 )e (21 )
a
02

j[ ky ]
Hz0 (x0 , y 0 )
sin( x0 )e (21 )
= jE1
ka
a
02
E1

j[ ky ]
Hx0 (x0 , y 0 )
= cos( x0 )e (21 )

(1)

where

1 = e cos(e ) .
We can use these equations and the equivalent fields approach to aperture find the surface
current densities,
02
E1

j[ ky ]
J~s0 = cos( x0 )e (21 ) y

(2)

and
ky 02

~ 0 = E1 cos( x0 )ej[ (21 ) ] x

M
s
a
for the region a2 x0

a
2

and b21 y 0

b1
.
2

(3)

The current densities are zero elsewhere.

The E-field components for the radiated fields of an aperture antenna are given by

E =

E =

jkejkr
(L + N )
4r

jkejkr
(L + N )
4r

where

(4)

(5)

ZZ
N =
ZSZ
N =
ZSZ
L =
ZSZ
L =

[Jx cos cos + Jy cos sin Jz sin ]e+jkr

[Jx sin + Jy cos ]e+jkr

cos

cos

ds0

[Mx cos cos + My cos sin Mz sin ]e+jkr

[Mx sin + My cos ]e+jkr

cos

ds0

Looking at the equation for N and (2) we have

noting from the geometry that,

r0 cos = ~r0r = x0 sin cos + y 0 sin sin

we get,

Therefore,
4

ds0

cos

ds0
.

a
N = E1
2

1 j
e
k

ky 2 1
2k

"

"
#
#
cos( kx2a )
cos sin
F (t1 , t2 )

( kx2a )2 ( 2 )2

(6)

where,
kx = k sin cos
ky = k sin sin
b1
21
b1
t2 =
21

t1 =

and
F (t1 , t2 ) = [C(t2 ) C(t1 )] j[S(t2 ) S(t1 )] .
Note: C(t) and S(t) are cosine and sine integrals, the solutions of which can be found in
Appendix III of the course text.
By similar analysis we can also find,
"
#
#

"
r
2
cos( kx2a )
a 1 j ky2k1 cos
F (t1 , t2 )
N = E1
e

2
k
( kx2a )2 ( 2 )2
"
#
#

"
r
2
cos( kx2a )
a 1 j ky2k1
L = E1
e
cos cos kx a 2
F (t1 , t2 )
2
k
( 2 ) ( 2 )2
"
#
#
"

r
2
cos( kx2a )
a 1 j ky2k1
sin kx a 2
L = E1
e
F (t1 , t2 )
.
2
k
( 2 ) ( 2 )2

(7)

Now, we can substitute the results of (6) and (7) into (4) and (5) to get the radiated
E-fields,

#
#
"  k2 
"

cos( kx2a )
a k1 E1 ejkr j y2k1
E = j
e
sin (1 + cos ) kx a 2
F (t1 , t2 ) .
8r
( 2 ) ( 2 )2

(8)

#
#
"
"  k2 

cos( kx2a )
a k1 E1 ejkr j y2k1
cos (1 + cos ) kx a 2
F (t1 , t2 )
e
E = j
8r
( 2 ) ( 2 )2

(9)

Directivity of an E-plane Horn

3.1

Maximum Radiation

To find the directivity of an E-plane horn we must first find the maximum radiation,

Umax =

r2
|E|2max .
2

(10)

For most horn antennas |E|max is directed mainly along the z-axis (ie. = 0). Thus,

|E|max =

|E |2max + |E |2max .

From (8) and (9) and noting kx = 0,



a k1
1
=
(2) 2 |E1 sin F (t1 , t2 )|
8r
(2)

(11)



a k1
1
=
(2) 2 |E1 cos F (t1 , t2 )| .
8r
(2)

(12)

|E |max

|E |max

Recalling that t1 = t2 and using the fact that,

C(t) = C(t)

(13)

S(t) = S(t)

(14)

and

we get,

Therefore we now have,

2a k1
=
|E1 sin F (t)|
8r

(15)

2a k1
=
|E1 cos F (t)| .
8r

(16)

|E |max

|E |max

Substituting these results into (10), gives the final result,

Umax =

2a2 k1
|E1 |2 |F (t)|2
3

(17)

where,

|F (t)|2 = [C 2 (

3.2

b1
b1
) + S 2(
)]
21
21

Power Radiated

The total power radiated from a E-plane horn can be found by,

Prad

1
=
2

ZZ

~0 H
~ 0 ) d~s
<e(E

~ 0 and H
~ 0 -fields over the aperture of the horn given in (1),
Using the E

(18)

Now recall,
Z

1
cos2 udu = (u + sin u cos u) + C
2

Thus, we have,

Prad =

3.3

ab1
|E1 |2
4

(19)

Putting it all together

Now that we have found the maximum radiation and the power radiated from the horn, we
can find the directivity using the formula,
4Umax
Prad
64a1
=
|F (t)|2
b1
DE =

(20)

Directivity of a H-plane Horn

Like the E-plane horn antenna, a H-plane horn is only flared in one direction. In this case it
is flared in the direction of the H-field, giving a better directivity in that plane. Figure 2 is a
diagram showing the geometry of the antenna.
Using the same approach as presented for the E-plane horn, and starting from,
Ex0 = Hy0 = 0
x02

jk 2
2
= E2 cos( x0 )e
a1
h 02 i
x
E2
0 jk 2
0
0
2
Hx (x ) = cos( x )e

a1

Ey0 (x0 )

2 = h cos h
it can be shown that,

Figure 2: H-Plane Horn Antenna. Taken from course Text, Antenna Theory by C. Balanis.

Umax = |E2 |2

b2 2 
[C(u) C(v)]2 + [S(u) S(v)]2
4

(21)

where,

1 2
a1
u=
(

)
2 a1
2
r
a1
1 2
)
v=
(
+
2 a1
2
r

and that,

Prad = |E2 |2

ba1
.
4

Combining this gives us the H-plane horn directivity,

DH =

4b2 
[C(u) C(v)]2 + [S(u) S(v)]2
a1

(22)

Directivity of an Pyramidal Horn

The final type of horn presented is the pyramidal horn antenna. This horn is a combination of
the E-plane and H-plane horns and as such is flared in both directions. A three dimensional
diagram of the pyramidal is given in Figure 3. For the E-plane and H-plane views, the
diagrams Figure 1 and Figure 2 can be used1 .
The equations of interest for the pyramidal horn are,
1
Note: p1 and p2 in figure 1 and figure 2 are referred to as pe and ph respectively in the pyramidal horn
equations.

10

Figure 3: Pyramidal Horn Antenna. Taken from course Text, Antenna Theory by C. Balanis.

1 2 
[C(u) C(v)]2 + [S(u) S(v)]2
2


b1
b1
2
2
C (
) + S (
)
21
21
a1 b 1
Prad = |E0 |2
4


81 2
[C(u) C(v)]2 + [S(u) S(v)]2
DH =
a1 b 1


b1
b1
2
2
C (
) + S (
)
21
21
2
DE DH
=
32ab

Umax = |E0 |2

Also, for this type of horn antenna, the properties,


1
e 2 1 2
pe = (b1 b) ( )
b1
4
and

1
h 2 1 2
ph = (a1 a) ( )
a1
4
are important. If these values are not equal, then the horn is not physically realizable.

11