A two‐dimensional beam steering Fabry–Pérot antenna employing a liquid‐based reconfigurable metasurface

Abstract

Abstract A novel 2‐D beam steering technology using a Fabry–Pérot antenna with a liquid‐based reconfigurable metasurface is presented. The antenna employs a reconfigurable partially reflecting surface to regulate phase distribution and adopts a microstrip antenna as feed to realise 2‐D beam steering. The antenna beam can be tilted in four different directions by injecting liquid metal into the specific area of the microfluidic channels embedded in the metasurface. Moreover, the antenna has a simple and compact structure with a low profile. A prototype is manufactured, and good agreement between simulated and experimental results verifies the correctness of the design. The measured results of the manufactured antenna prototype demonstrate that the main beam tilts to maximum values of ±15° and ±28° in the yoz and xoz planes, respectively, between 9.5 and 9.7 GHz.

Keywords

• antenna radiation patterns
• beam steering
• Fabry‐Perot resonators
• metamaterial antennas