volume | PIER Journals

Abstract

In this work, an anisotropic zero index material is designed for use in Vivaldi antennas. The metasurface structures are placed within the aperture of a Vivaldi antenna to improve the directivity and gain of the emitted radiation. The range of operation is in the ultrahigh frequency (UHF) range, between 300 MHz and 3 GHz. Two approaches are presented: a type of resonant metallic metamaterial that belongs to the larger class of anisotropic zero index metamaterials and a non-resonant material. A technique for lowering the dimensions of the resonant metamaterial unit cell is presented and applied. The work presented consists of simulation results obtained with HFSS modelling software from ANSYS.

1. Ziolkowski, R. W., "Metamaterials: The early years in the USA," EPJ Appl. Metamat., Vol. 1, No. 5, 2014, DOI: 10.1051/epjam/2014004. Google Scholar

2. Alu, A., M. G. Silveirinha, A. Salandrino, and N. Engheta, "Epsilon-near-zero metamaterials and electromagnetic sources: Tailoring the radiation phase pattern," Phys. Rev. B, Vol. 75, 155410, Arpil 2007. Google Scholar

3. Yang, Y., Y. Wang, and A. E. Fathy, "Design of compact Vivaldi antenna arrays for UWB see through wall applications," Progress In Electromagnetics Research, Vol. 82, 401-418, 2008.
doi:10.2528/PIER08040601 Google Scholar

4. Gibson, P. J., "The Vivaldi aerial," 9th European Microwave Conference, IEEE, 1979, DOI: 10.1109/EUMA.1979.332681. Google Scholar

5. Ambhore, V. B. and A. P. Dhande, "An overview on properties, parameter consideration and design of meandering antenna," International Journal of Smart Sensors and Ad Hoc Networks, Vol. 1, No. 4, 2012, ISSN No. 22248-9738. Google Scholar

6. Das, A., S. Dhar, and B. Gupta, "Lumped circuit model analysis of meander line antennas," 11th Mediterranean Microwave Symposium (MMS), 2011. Google Scholar

7. Warnagiris, T. J. and T. J. Minardo, "Performance of a meandered line as an electrically small transmitting antenna," IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, Vol. 46, No. 12, December 1998.
doi:10.1109/8.743815 Google Scholar

8. Popescu, A.-S., T. Rexhepi, I. Bendoym, A. Golovin, and D. T. Crouse, "UHf metamaterial enhanced antenna," META’15, the 6th International Conference on Metamaterials, Photonic Crystals and Plasmonics, New York, N.Y., 2015. Google Scholar

9. Chen, X., T. M. Grzegorczyk, B.-I. Wu, J. Pacheco, Jr., and J. A. Kong, "Robust method to retrieve the constitutive effective parameters of metamaterials," Phys. Rev. E, Vol. 70, 016608, July 26, 2004. Google Scholar

10. Nevrly, J., "Design of Vivaldi antenna,", Diploma Thesis, Czech Technical University, Czech Republic, 2007. Google Scholar

11. Zinieris, M. M., R. Sloan, and L. E. Davis, "A broadband microstrip-to-slot-line transition," Microwave and Optical Technology Letters, Vol. 18, No. 5, August 1998.
doi:10.1002/(SICI)1098-2760(19980805)18:5<339::AID-MOP9>3.0.CO;2-9 Google Scholar

12. Schuppert, B., "Microstrip/slotline transitions: Modeling and experimental investigation," IEEE Transcations on Microwave Theory and Techniques, Vol. 36, No. 8, August 1988. Google Scholar

13. Zhou, B., H. Li, X. Zou, and T.-J. Cui, "Broadband and high-gain planar Vivaldi antennas based on inhomogeneous anisotropic zero-index metamaterials," Progress In Electromagnetics Research, Vol. 120, 235-247, 2011.
doi:10.2528/PIER11072710 Google Scholar

14. Bhaskar, M., E. Johari, Z. Akhter, and M. J. Akhta, "Gain enhancement of the Vivaldi antenna with band notch characteristics using zero-index metamaterial," Microwave and Optical Technology Letters, Vol. 58, No. 1, 233-238, January 2016.
doi:10.1002/mop.29534 Google Scholar

Dr. Ada-Simona Popescu

Dr. Igor Bendoym

Dr. Taulant Rexhepi

Dr. David Crouse