Low-profile metasurface-backed wideband antenna array for mm-wave applications

TL;DR

This paper presents a compact, high-gain antenna array with a metasurface reflector for millimeter-wave communication.

Contribution

The novel design integrates a metasurface reflector with a modified ring resonator to achieve wideband performance and compact size.

Findings

The antenna array achieves 12.86 GHz impedance bandwidth from 27.14 to 40 GHz.

A maximum gain of 12.3 dBi is achieved with improved directional radiation characteristics.

Abstract

We propose a design of 1 × 4 planar antenna array for wideband millimeter-wave (mm-wave) applications, integrated with a metasurface reflector. The single radiating element of the array is composed of a modified ring resonator, designed by combining two rings of different radii. This leads to a compact antenna with dimensions reducing the overall size of the array. For the excitation of array elements, a broadband feeding network is designed, while the wideband characteristics are achieved using a partial ground plane loaded with a square notch. For high gain and improved radiation characteristics, an array of 3 × 10 metasurface unit cells are built and placed at the back side of the antenna array at a specific distance. A prototype of the proposed antenna system is fabricated, and measurements are made to verify the simulated performance. From the results obtained, it is noted that the 1 × 4 planar antenna array with a metasurface reflector offers 12.86 GHz of impedance bandwidth in the range 27.14–40 GHz, and a maximum gain of 12.3 dBi is achieved in the operating frequency range. Furthermore, the directional radiation characteristics are obtained, especially for the low- and mid-band frequencies.

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