A modified genetic algorithm (MGA) for the element spacing synthesis of linear sparse array is described.Under the optimization constraints of the number of element

the aperture and the minimum element spacing

the MGA has been utilized to reduce the peak sidelobe level (PSLL) of the array.It improves the optimization efficiency of GA by the application of real valued coding of chromosome

the manner of individual description allows the GA to search a smaller solution space.For the sake of avoiding infeasible solution during the process of recombination and mutation

constraint matrix and its transforms are designed

and the broad sense crossover operator and mutation operator of GA are applied.When the aperture and the number of elements are a priori fixed

the synthesis of linear sparse arrays using this new method can run with the adjustable minimum element spacing.The flowchart of the MGA and the simulated results confirming the validity and the robustness of the algorithm are provided.