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Updated: May 18, 2026

Demonstration of Equal-Intensity Beam Generation by Dielectric Metasurfaces
Published on: June 7, 2019
Planar metamaterial based on hybridization for directive emission.
Abdelwaheb Ourir1, Redha Abdeddaim, Julien de Rosny
1Key Laboratory for Laser Plasmas (Ministry of Education) and Department of Physics, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai 200240, China. yulong@sjtu.edu.cn
We experimentally demonstrated a mu and epsilon near zero (MENZ) metamaterial to enhance antenna directivity. This novel metamaterial superstrate significantly boosts the performance of microstrip patch antennas at 10.5 GHz.
Area of Science:
- Electromagnetics and Metamaterials
- Antenna Engineering
- Applied Physics
Background:
- Metamaterials offer unique electromagnetic properties not found in natural materials.
- Achieving simultaneous near-zero permittivity and permeability (MENZ) is crucial for advanced applications.
- Enhancing antenna directivity is a key goal in wireless communication systems.
Purpose of the Study:
- To experimentally demonstrate a high-directivity antenna using a mu and epsilon near zero (MENZ) metamaterial.
- To design and validate a planar MENZ structure for enhanced antenna performance.
- To investigate the effect of a MENZ metamaterial superstrate on microstrip patch antenna directivity.
Main Methods:
- Designed a planar MENZ metamaterial based on the fishnet unit cell using hybridization principles.
- Engineered resonant modes to achieve simultaneous effective permittivity and permeability near zero around 10.5 GHz.
- Integrated the fabricated MENZ metamaterial as a superstrate for a microstrip patch antenna.
Main Results:
- Successfully fabricated and characterized a planar fishnet-based MENZ metamaterial.
- Demonstrated simultaneous epsilon near zero (ENZ) and mu near zero (MNZ) conditions around 10.5 GHz.
- Observed significant enhancement in the directivity of the microstrip patch antenna when using the MENZ metamaterial superstrate.
Conclusions:
- The first experimental demonstration of a high-directivity antenna using a MENZ metamaterial is presented.
- The designed planar MENZ structure effectively enhances antenna directivity at the target frequency.
- MENZ metamaterials show great promise for improving antenna performance in future wireless systems.
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