Abstract
This paper presents the modeling and design of a frequency agile antenna using an anistropic artificial dielectric layer (AADL) for multi-band phased array radar applications. The proposed AADL material is placed underneath the patch radiator and is designed using periodically arranged metallic cylinders in which varying height, diameter, and the distance used between them allows the control of the effective permittivity of the patch antenna. Closed form design expressions are formulated to synthesize the dielectric properties of the AADL as a function of the cylindrical unit cell dimensions. Design trade-offs based on the proposed formulation and numerical simulations show the overall performance of the AADL on microstrip patch (MS) antennas. To validate the proposed concept, five individual AADL MS patch antennas in C-band were designed, fabricated, and tested. Simulated and measured results ( ${s}$ -parameters and radiation patterns) are in good agreement with the results obtained from the theoretical model. The proposed AADL concept has the potential to be used in the development of future reconfigurable tunable multiband antennas that use liquid metal to dynamically change the heights of the cylinders.
Highlights
Multiple applications, including communications, electronic warfare, weather radar, aircraft surveillance, security, and defense, require diverse type of antennas to cover from low frequencies to millimeter waves [1]
Circular metal plates of 1 mm diameter were placed on each cylinder to insure a proper fabrication process
The accuracy and ease of use of these equations allow expediting the design process of the proposed antenna using reconfigurable artificial dielectric layer (AADL).The proposed AADL material enables the use of the same aperture to achieve a multiband antenna with invariant radiation patterns
Summary
Multiple applications, including communications, electronic warfare, weather radar, aircraft surveillance, security, and defense, require diverse type of antennas to cover from low frequencies to millimeter waves [1]. Adding more antenna apertures introduces new challenges such as increased radar cross-section (RCS), radio frequency (RF) blockage, and electromagnetic interference in communication and radar systems [1]. This enforces stringent requirements on system design specially for military applications. Compact shared aperture array designs are required to enable efficient integration of shipboard RF functions including radar, communications, and electronic warfare (EW) [1]–[6]
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