Multifunctional Low-Profile Fabry–Perot Resonator Antenna Integrated With Solar Cells

Abstract

A novel multifunctional low-profile Fabry–Perot resonator (FPR) antenna integrated with solar cells (SCs) is proposed in this communication. It is mainly composed of a transparent partially reflective surface (PRS), a patch radiator, and an artificial magnetic conductor (AMC) made of SCs array. On the upper layer, the PRS is made of the transparent copper microgrid to perform the function of partial reflection as well as ensure that sufficient solar energy can be captured by the SCs. Here, the SCs array acting as AMC can reduce the profile of the FPR antenna, on the other hand, it can collect solar energy and convert it into direct current (dc) power to provide energy supply of the device. Through this design, the SCs and FPR antenna are well combined compatibly together. The proposed antenna is fabricated and verified, the measured results demonstrate that the proposed multifunctional FPR antenna has a realized gain of 11.5 dBi with high aperture efficiency of 58.3% and a good low-profile characteristic (approximately <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\lambda _{0}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> /6). The measured output power of SCs can reach to 600 <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mu \text{w}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> . The work proposed in this communication illustrates the multifunctional requirements of antenna with high radiation properties, low profile, and the capability of power harvesting, simultaneously. It may be a good scheme for self-powered occasions, such as outdoor and satellite communication devices.