FREQUENCY-INDUCED ANGULAR SWEEP OF THE ELECTROMAGNETIC-WAVE DIFFRACTED BY WEAKLY CURVED PERIODIC MEDIA IN THE DYNAMICAL REGIME

The effects connected with the dynamical scattering of electromagnetic waves by weakly curved periodic layered media are discussed. A simple physical model is used to take into account the effects of the curvat ure in the framework of the dynamical theory of diffraction. A peculia r effect consisting of the possibility of a continuous sweep of the di rection of the diffracted beam over a relatively wide angular range, u nder the control of the frequency of the incident wave, is seen and an alyzed. The design of a device realizing such a frequency-direction co nversion in the frequency range of 82-107 GHz is presented and discuss ed as a prototype of a new possible class of instruments. (C) 1996 Ame rican Institute of Physics.