Metasurface Cloaks to Decouple Closely Spaced Printed Dipole Antenna Arrays Fed by a Microstrip-to-Balanced Transmission-Line Transition

Doojin Lee,Alexander B Yakovlev

doi:10.1109/access.2021.3112771

Abstract

In this work, we present a numerical study of 1D and 2D closely spaced antenna arrays of microstrip dipole antennas covered by a metasurface in order to properly cloak and decouple the antenna arrays operating at neighboring frequencies. We show that the two strongly coupled arrays fed by a microstrip-to-balanced transmission-line transition are effectively decoupled in 1D and 2D array scenarios by covering the dipole antenna elements with an elliptically shaped metasurface. The metasurface comprises sub-wavelength periodic metallic strips printed on an elliptically shaped dielectric cover around the dipole antennas and integrated with the substrate. We present a practical design of cloaked printed dipole arrays placed in close proximity of each other and demonstrate that the arrays are decoupled in the near field and operate independently in the far field with their original radiation characteristics as if they were isolated.

Highlights

In recent years, there has been an increasing demand in the analysis, design, modeling, and practical realization of electromagnetic cloaks ranging from microwaves to optics
We further extend the decoupling and cloaking approach to 1D and 2D arrays of printed dipoles fed by a microstrip-to-balanced transmission-line transition and with the metasurface cloaks integrated with printed technology
We demonstrate for 1D and 2D phased array configurations that the mutual coupling strongly affects the matching and radiation characteristics of the arrays, and the presence of the cloaks decouples the arrays in the near field and restores their original radiation patterns in the far field, as if the arrays were isolated

Summary

INTRODUCTION

There has been an increasing demand in the analysis, design, modeling, and practical realization of electromagnetic cloaks ranging from microwaves to optics. Most work on the narrowband antenna applications, concerning the operation at the neighboring frequencies, have utilized the ultrathin metasurface-based cloaks to reduce the mutual coupling between the radiating elements, and at the same time, to preserve the antenna radiation pattern when placed in close proximity (i.e., λ0/10, where λ0 is the operating or design frequency of the antenna) [7],[28].

SINGLE PRINTED PLANAR DIPOLE ANTENNA

PRINTED PLANAR DIPOLE ANTENNA ARRAYS

Findings

CONCLUSION