Theory, Design, and Verification of Miniaturized Phase-Controlled Huygens Antenna for 360° Continuous Beam Scanning

Abstract

The theory, design, and verification of a novel miniaturized reconfigurable Huygens antenna with 360° continuous beam-scanning capability are demonstrated in this article. Different from the conventional Huygens topology, both the monopole-like Huygens form and the metamaterial loading technique are explored for size reduction. By creatively tuning the direction (or polarization) of the electric dipole (E-dipole) or magnetic dipole (M-dipole), a novel miniaturized pattern reconfigurable Huygens source is first proposed. Then, to control the polarization of the M-dipole [linearly polarized (LP)], a double circularly polarized (CP) wave with a tunable phase difference is introduced. Furthermore, a novel phase-controlled Huygens mechanism is developed by combining the polarization reconfigurable M-dipole and fixed E-dipole. By modulating the feeding phase of the Huygens source, the beam can be steered in any direction in the horizontal plane. The proposed theory and working principle are verified by a metamaterial-loaded tri-mode dielectric resonator radiator and a three-way phase-shifting network. The antenna is operated from 3.40 to 3.68 GHz and is capable of continuously scanning a directional beam from 0° to 360°. The realized peak gain and 3 dB beamwidth are greater than 6.3 dBi and 90°, respectively. This work proposes a new realization method for a simple, low-cost, miniaturized, vertically polarized (VP), 360° continuous beam-steering antenna. It is promising for intelligent wireless communications, the Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices, and DOA estimation applications.