High-Isolation Leaky-Wave Array Antenna Based on CRLH-Metamaterial Implemented on SIW with ±30o Frequency Beam-Scanning Capability at Millimetre-Waves

Alibakhshikenari, Mohammad; Virdee, Bal Singh; Hwang See, Chan; Abd-Alhameed, Raed; Falcone, Francisco; Limiti, Ernesto

Abstract

The paper presents a feasibility study on the design of a new metamaterial leaky-wave antenna (MTM-LWA) used in the construction of a 1 × 2 array which is implemented using substrate-integrated waveguide (SIW) technology for millimetre-wave beamforming applications. The proposed 1 × 2 array antenna consists of two LWAs with metamaterial unit-cells etched on the top surface of the SIW. The metamaterial unit-cell, which is an E-shaped transverse slot, causes leakage loss and interrupts current flow over SIW to enhance the array’s performance. The dimensions of the LWA are 40 × 10 × 0.75 mm3. Mutual-coupling between the array elements is suppressed by incorporating a metamaterial shield (MTM-shield) between the two antennas in the array. The LWA operates over a frequency range of 55–65 GHz, which is corresponding to 16.66% fractional bandwidth. The array is shown to exhibit beam-scanning of ±30° over its operating frequency range. Radiation gain in the backward (−30°), broadside (0°), and forward (+30°) directions are 8.5 dBi, 10.1 dBi, and 9.5 dBi, respectively. The decoupling slab is shown to have minimal effect on the array’s performance in terms of impedance bandwidth and radiation specifications. The MTM-shield is shown to suppress the mutual coupling by ~25 dB and to improve the radiation gain and efficiency by ~1 dBi and ~13% on average, respectively.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jun 5, 2019
• Online Publication Date: Jun 6, 2019
• Publication Date: Jun 6, 2019
• Deposit Date: Jun 6, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 18, 2019
• Journal: Electronics
• Electronic ISSN: 2079-9292
• Publisher: MDPI
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 8
• Issue: 6
• Article Number: 642
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics8060642
• Keywords: Metamaterials (MTM), leaky-wave antenna (LWA), antenna arrays, substrate integrated waveguide (SIW), transverse slots; beam-scanning; mutual coupling isolation; millimetre-wave; composite right/left-handed transmission line (CRLH-TL)
• Public URL: http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/Output/1857220
• Contract Date: Jun 18, 2019