Integrated hybrid antenna based on spoof surface plasmon polaritons

Abstract

In this paper, we proposed an integrated hybrid antenna based on spoof surface plasmon polaritons (SSPPs) which combines with omnidirectional antenna (ODA) and the frequency beam scanning antenna (FBSA). The ODA is fed by the SSPPs and the operating principle of FBSA is based on the higher-order modes of the SSPPs. The radiation mechanisms of the proposed integrated antenna are that the low-pass transmission modes of SSPPs are used to excite the ODA and the higher-order modes of SSPPs are utilized to generate the frequency beam scanning waves. That is to say, the SSPP design not only serves as the feeding structure for the ODA, but also acts as the radiating element for the FBSA. Simulated results show that the proposed integrated antenna achieves two impedance bandwidths. Within the operating bandwidth 2.32 GHz to 4.42 GHz, the proposed integrated antenna achieves omnidirectional radiation patterns, which enables the simultaneous use for wireless local area network (WLAN) and 5 G applications. Meanwhile, from 11.45 GHz to 25.5 GHz, the proposed integrated antenna acts as a wide-angle frequency beam scanning characteristic and can be used for planar integrated communication systems. Additionally, a prototype of the proposed integrated hybrid antenna is fabricated and tested. The measured results have a good agreement with the simulated ones.