Analysis and Design of a Metamaterial Lens Antenna Using the Theory of Characteristic Modes

Abstract

A new single-layer metamaterial lens antenna aimed to operate at 10 GHz is proposed in this paper. The lens antenna consists of twelve capacitively coupled unit cells distributed along a ring and illuminated by an open-ended circular waveguide with a metallic resonant ring. The theory of characteristic modes is used to analyze the metamaterial lens, in order to provide an insight into the radiation characteristics of the antenna. The proposed antenna has been optimized, obtaining a large bandwidth and a maximum directivity of 12.88 dBi at 10 GHz.