ABSTRACTA simple technique to design stable gain and low back lobe substrate-integrated waveguide (SIW) horn antenna is proposed. Matching is achieved by placing a metallised via in a specific distance from the aperture of the horn. The proposed design method is based on the analytical equivalent circuit that derived for the impedance of the antenna aperture and the matching metallic via in SIW. The aperture impedance and metallic via in SIW are studied and design curves are extracted for a specified substrate. Also, to reach a directive pattern and reduce the back lobe of the antenna, some chokes are used on the aperture of the horn. The effect of chokes on some parameters such as power flow and radiation pattern, the front to back ratio (FBR), side lobe level (SLL) and increasing directivity of the antenna is reported. The measurement results confirm simulation, appropriately. The proposed structure has high compactness due to the matching technique and design. The proposed SIW horn has compact dimensions as 18.7 * 23.34*7.62 mm (0.93 * 1.16 * 0.37 λ0) and the measured gain of the horn is about 5.5 dB at 15 GHz and bandwidth of six percent.