Abstract: For the purpose of using as few elements as possible to form a desired pattern, a new method based on matrix enhancement and matrix pencil(MEMP)is proposed to solve the element position and to design the excitation. Firstly, an enhanced matrix is built using the sampling data of the desired planar array radiation pattern and the singular value decomposition(SVD) can be performed. Then the minimun number of elements can be determined. Secondly, the generalized eigendecomposition is employed to calculate the eigenvalues and the estimating signal parameters via rotational invariance techniques (ESPRIT) is utilized to pair the eigenvalues of each column. Finally, excitations and locations are calculated according to the correct pairing of eigenvalues. Simulation results are presented to illustrate the efficiency and numerical accuracy of the approach.