Metallic metasurface antennas for space
Abstract
In metasurface (MTS) antennas, a surface-wave (SW) is gradually radiated by modulating an equivalent reactance tensor in the aperture plane. Such modulation results in the (-1) indexed Floquet mode entering the visible region, thus becoming a leaky-wave (LW) mode with curvilinear phase-contour. This paper explores the use of a class of metallic MTS in the synthesis of the reactance tensor required to obtain the objective radiation patterns. The absence of dielectric is useful to survive harsh environments in space exploration. The proposed element consists of a metallic cylinder with elliptical cross-section, placed on a ground plane and arranged in a square lattice with subwavelength unit-cell side. We have applied this structure in the design of a right-handed circularly polarized antenna, with a broadside pencil beam in the Ka band. The obtained performance has been verified by full-wave simulations. A prototype has been manufactured and measurements will be available at the time of the conference. © Institution of Engineering and Technology.All Rights Reserved.