Phased Array Antenna Patterns—Part 2: Grating Lobes And Beam Squint

This is the second article of a three-part series on phased array antenna patterns. Part 2 discusses grating lobes and beam squint. Grating lobes can be hard to visualize, but they are similar to signal aliasing in digital converters, and can be thought of as a spatial alias. The article also explores the issue of beam squint – an unfocusing of the antenna across frequency when phase shift is used, instead of a true time delay, to steer the beam. Additional topics include the trade-off between these two steering methods and the impact of beam squint on typical systems.