In this work, a leaky-wave antenna (LWA) based on the second higher-ordermode (EH 2 -mode) microstrip line is proposed for achieving the backwardto-forward beam scanning and single main beam radiation. The original microstrip EH 2 -mode LWA inherently radiates two symmetric beams in the transversal plane. By loading a series of longitudinal slots, the dual-beam radiation of the antenna is converted into single-beam radiation. To achieve the continuous beam scanning, a series of transversal slots are further etched at each periodic cell correspondingly, where the frequency balanced condition could be satisfied for suppressing the open-stop band. Finally, a prototype of the proposed EH 2 -mode LWA is designed, implemented and fabricated. The measured results agree well with those results obtained from the simulation, validating the proposed method of single-beam radiation and OSB suppression.The designed antenna in the measurement can scan from À15 to +15 with the frequency varying from 4.7 to 5.4 GHz.