Metasurface-enabled high-gain circularly polarized antenna array for sensing in dust-laden environments

Area of Science:

• Electromagnetics and Antenna Engineering
• Microwave and Millimeter-Wave Technology
• Sensor Technology

Background:

• Object detection in harsh environments like dusty conditions presents significant challenges for conventional sensor systems.
• Millimeter-wave (mm-wave) frequencies offer potential for high-resolution sensing but are susceptible to environmental interference.
• Existing antenna designs often suffer from performance degradation and mutual coupling in the presence of dust particles.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design and evaluate a novel circularly polarized millimetre-wave antenna array optimized for object detection in dust-laden environments.
• To investigate the impact of a metasurface layer on antenna performance, specifically focusing on gain enhancement and mutual coupling suppression.
• To validate the antenna array's operational stability and effectiveness under simulated dusty conditions.

Main Methods:

• A 16-element circularly polarized antenna array operating at mm-wave frequencies was designed using a dual-layer substrate.
• A metasurface layer composed of periodic unit cells was integrated to manage electromagnetic wave propagation and reduce element-to-element coupling.
• The antenna array's performance, including gain, bandwidth, and impedance matching, was simulated and measured in free space and under simulated dusty conditions (beach sand, gray sand).

Main Results:

• The proposed antenna array achieved a peak gain of 17.2 dB in free space and 14.7 dB under dusty conditions with the metasurface.
• A stable impedance bandwidth of 35.5-38.5 GHz was maintained across all tested environments.
• The metasurface effectively suppressed mutual coupling and facilitated leaky-wave modes, enhancing radiation performance.

Conclusions:

• The developed mm-wave antenna array with an integrated metasurface demonstrates robust and stable performance in dust-laden environments.
• The design exhibits significant potential for reliable object detection applications where environmental conditions are challenging.
• The study highlights the efficacy of metasurface integration for improving antenna performance in adverse conditions.