Millimeter-wave broadband dual-circularly polarized array antenna loaded with metasurface

Area of Science:

• Electromagnetics and Wave Propagation
• Metamaterials and Metasurfaces
• Antenna Engineering

Background:

• Millimeter-wave (mmWave) frequencies are crucial for high-bandwidth communication systems.
• Dual circularly polarized (DCP) antennas are essential for mitigating multipath fading and polarization mismatch.
• Metasurfaces offer unique capabilities for manipulating electromagnetic waves, including polarization conversion.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present a novel millimeter-wave broadband dual circularly polarized (DCP) linear array antenna.
• To integrate a linear to circular polarization converting metasurface for enhanced signal reception.
• To demonstrate a compact, scalable, and high-performance antenna design for mmWave applications.

Main Methods:

• Design of a feeding element using a circular patch with a symmetric cross-shaped slot to achieve dual linear polarization.
• Integration of a metasurface to convert the linear polarization to dual circular polarization.
• Fabrication and measurement of a 1x4 array antenna to validate the design.

Main Results:

• The fabricated antenna achieved an impedance bandwidth (IBW) of 24.2% (26.5-33.8 GHz).
• An axial ratio (AR) bandwidth of 21.6% (27.2-33.8 GHz) was obtained.
• A peak gain of 13.4 dBic was measured at the center frequency, with good agreement between simulated and measured results.

Conclusions:

• The proposed antenna design successfully achieves broadband dual circular polarization using a metasurface.
• The compact and scalable nature of the design makes it suitable for various mmWave communication systems.
• The experimental validation confirms the effectiveness of the metasurface for polarization conversion and antenna performance enhancement.