Metamaterial-enabled beam scanning antenna

Abstract

There is disclosed a leaky-wave antenna device comprising a first metasurface comprising a first dielectric substrate having a first array of conductive elements and a second metasurface comprising a second dielectric substrate having a second array of conductive elements. The antenna device further comprises a conductive ground plane, a micro-actuator, and a feed comprising a pair of switchable dipoles. The first and second metasurfaces and the conductive ground plane are in a stacked arrangement and substantially parallel to one another, with the first metasurface located between the second metasurface and the conductive ground plane. A spacing between the conductive ground plane and the first metasurface is adjustable by operation of the micro-actuator. The feed is disposed between the first and second metasurfaces at a location corresponding to a centre of the first and second arrays. The leaky-wave antenna device may be operated to steer a beam over a wide range by selective energising of the pair of dipoles and by adjusting the spacing between the conductive ground plane and the first metasurface.