Reconfigurable Wearable Antenna for 5G Applications using Nematic Liquid Crystals

TL;DR

This paper presents a novel reconfigurable wearable antenna for 5G applications that uses nematic liquid crystals to achieve tunability over a high frequency range with ultra-low voltage, enabling lightweight and autonomous wearable devices.

Contribution

It introduces a reconfigurable antenna design utilizing nematic liquid crystals directly on the lens for smart glasses, with low-voltage operation and tunability in the 3.3-3.8 GHz range.

Findings

Achieved reconfigurability with ultra-low voltage (0.4-0.6 V).

Demonstrated influence of LC alignment on antenna tuning.

Developed a smart, reconfigurable spiral antenna system.

Abstract

The antenna is one of the key building blocks of many wearable electronic device, and its functions include wireless communications, energy harvesting and radiative wireless power transfer (WPT). In an effort to realise lightweight, autonomous and battery-less wearable devices, we demonstrate a reconfigurable antenna design for 5G wearable applications that require ultra-low driving voltages ($0.4$-$0.6\,$V) and operate over a high frequency range ($3.3$-$3.8\,$GHz). For smart glasses application, previous antenna designs were `fixed' and mounted on the eyeglass frame itself. Here, we demonstrate a reconfigurable design that could be achieved on the lens itself, using an anisotropic liquid crystal (LC) material. We demonstrate how LC alignment and electric field patterns strongly influence the tuning capabilities of these antennas in the gigahertz range and present a smart, reconfigurable spiral antenna system with a LC substrate.