Metamaterial Based Antennas with Super- and Substrates

Yiannis (J) Vardaxoglou1, R. D. Seager2, N. Riauka3, A. Chauraya4, and P deMaagt5

1-4

Wireless Communications Research Group, Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, Loughborough University, LE11 3TU, UK
1

J.C.Vardaxoglou@lboro.ac.uk

Antenna and Submillimetre Wave Section Electromagnetics & Space Environments Division, European Space Agency, The Netherlands
5

Peter.de.Maagt@esa.int

AbstractResonant periodic structures are known to interact well with radiating elements provided such elements are suitably integrated. A number of configurations have previously shown to enhance gain and improve matching conditions. In order to meet some practical demands in areas of modern communication systems and on-body electronics, metamaterial techniques can be employed to realise simple low profile and high gain antennas. Typical Metamaterial based antenna (MBA) are less susceptible to environmental effects which tend to degrade the antennas performance. These problems are pronounced in the VHF-UHF frequency range where electrically small high gain antennas are cumbersome and challenging to design. This paper discuses a couple of metamaterial inspired low frequency antenna structures. Firstly, we present a planar wideband dipole antenna integrated into a flat plate metamaterial, and show some parametric results. Secondly, a compact woven antenna for Search and Rescue (SAR) applications is proposed, including a meta surface design acting as a ground plane possible to use in electronic textile systems.

compact fabric based antenna targeted on the SAR market. A copper circularly polarized (CP) antenna based on a crossed dipole has been reported by the authors [3]. As a development of this reported antenna a fabric antenna based on embroidery has been produced and measured. This antenna, possesses several novel features, that will be presented in this paper, and shows a good CP gain with the ability to tune the input match easily. Results presented show that the antenna Return Loss is reasonably stable under bending conditions as well as in proximity with water. II. WIDEBAND PLANAR METAMATERIAL INSPIRED ANTENNA

I. INTRODUCTION The requirement of wideband and compact devices is ever increasing in most communication systems. In addition, recent increases in the transmission and reception of information have created a need for broadband and high gain antennas. This necessity is particularly challenging in designing Radio Frequency (RF) products that demand these features at low RF bands. There are numerous situations in which environmental considerations and application require the antenna to also be low-profile. In [1], Riauka et al reported and proposed a low frequency dipole antenna integrated into a pair of flat plate Frequency Selective Surfaces (FSS) that can be considered as a candidate for planar high gain structures [2]. As an extension of this work , some key parameter features of this antenna are investigated with the view to determine the optimized antenna characteristics. With the cessation of satellite processing of COSPAS/SARSAT frequencies at 121.5 and 243 MHz from the 1st February 2009 all satellite beacon systems will be required to work at 406 MHz. This paper introduces a

d1 = 0.055

Fig. 1 A dipole antenna sandwiched between a square FSS mesh cavity, d 2 = 2d1 d = d1 , h = 0.26 ( 4.8d ) L = W = 0.75
1

The configuration of the antenna structure considered in this work is shown in Figure 1. This antenna consists of a balanced V shaped dipole antenna between FSS mesh with top mesh acting as superstrate and the bottom layer behaves as a high impedance surface. V-shaped geometry of the dipole exhibits a wide bandwidth and the basic idea in the dipole antenna design is to employ a combination of two forks by placing them opposite to each other. This antenna structure give the following merits: (1)dual resonance response, shown in Figure 2, and (2) high gain and pencil beam patterns. Figure 3 shows radiation patterns, A and B giving 8.8 dBi and 12. 4 dBi respectively.

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Fig. 2 Return loss of structure shown in Fig. 1

Fig. 5 Return loss characteristics of antenna in terms of variation of V shape dipoles arm angle, () from 00 - 450.

(A)

(B)

Fig. 3 Radiation patterns at frequency points A and B.

The effect of changing the arm angle has been investigated through simulations, and Figure 5 shows a summary of variation of return loss with respect to arm angles. It can be noted that the impedance match at both resonant and antiresonant nodes is improved as the arm angle increases up to about 450. The planar dipole antenna has reflection coefficient of about -7dB across the band for arm angles greater than 200. It can also be observed from Table 1, that maximum directivity and gain values are achieved when arm angles are at 200 and 300.
Table 1. Summary of directivity and gain parameters

Angle 00 100 200 300 400 450

Directivity, dBi 4.8 4.9 5.0 5.0 4.9 4.5

Gain, dBi 4.2 4.4 4.6 4.6 4.2 3.7

Fig. 4 A dipole Antenna suspended over a square FSS mesh, L=W=0.75. Inserts show V shaped dipoles and parameters investigated.

Figure 6 shows simulated radiation pattern in the E-plane for cross components, and the effect of varying base length (x) is visible as the patterns are transformed from Omnidirectional to pencil beam shape.

A dipole antenna suspended over a single FSS has also been investigated. Some key features of the dipole antenna that control the antennas performance, such as arm angle () and base length (x) are shown in Figure 4. Optimisation has been carried out through simulations.

Fig. 6 Simulated radiation patterns at 0.24d/: (A)x-2, (B)x+2, (C)x+6, and (D)x+8

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Fig. 7 Predicted return loss of varying base length of dipole antenna: a) X0.083D, B) X, C) X+0.083D, D) X+0.16D, E) X+0.25D, F) X+0.3D, AND G) X+0.41D

The reflection coefficients for few different base length, (x) are depicted in Figure 7. Reflections below 8 dB were achieved for dipole antennas with base length greater than x.

mechanisms. The first is by spiralling the arms of the dipoles. This has been shown to give good size reduction and good CP behaviour [5]. Figure 10 shows current distribution in all four spirals of the antenna. The second is by arranging the conductors so that the mutual inductance between adjacent conductors increases the overall inductance of the circuit, hence further reducing the actual size of the antenna [6]. The reported antenna is about 20% of the physical dimensions of a standard crossed dipole antenna. It would appear from simulations that significant further size reduction may well be a possibility, bearing in mind some limitations of small antennas [7]. With size reductions of this magnitude, it becomes possible to consider integrating the antenna into fabrics for wearable applications. The simulations for this particular antenna suggest a Right Hand Circular Polarisation (RHCP) gain of around 6 -7 dBi with an axial ratio around 4 - 5 dB at around 406 MHz. This simulated pattern is shown in Figure 9 (b).

(a)

(b)

Fig. 9 An embroidered spiral antenna, and predicted RHCP pattern

Figure 8. Directivity of antenna at resonant nodes.

In Figure 8 we plot the directivity of the dipole antenna at varying base length for two frequency points, namely 0.135d/ and 0.24d/. We observe that a significant improvement in directivity as high as 3 dBi is achieved in the case of 0.24d/.
0

Fig. 10 The sequence of current distribution in the spiral arms

406

III. COMPACT LOW FREQUENCY WOVEN ANTENNA Figure 9 (a) shows the top conductor of a fabric antenna. The antenna is based on a cross dipole because of its CP qualities. The normal feeding mechanism of this type of antenna would be a coaxial feed at the centre. Given the application of the antenna and its possible use in wearable systems such a feed was considered inappropriate. A microstrip feed was used instead. The coupling gap, and the length of the feed give some control of the Impedance Match and the quality of the CP radiation. In this implementation, the substrate is a felt material with a relative permittivity of 1.229 and a thickness of 1.5 mm. Measured loss tangent was 0.00006. Size reduction has been obtained via two
5

S11 (dB)
10 15 0

200

400

600

Frequency (MHz) Fabric Antenna MS1 Open Fabric Antenna MS1 130mm Radius Fabric Antenna MS1 47.5mm Radius

Fig. 11 Comparison of return loss for flat fabric antenna and antenna with two different bending radii

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Any antenna constructed of flexible materials is likely to be subject to bending and, possibly, crumpling. With this in mind some simple flexing experiments were undertaken. These consisted of bending the antenna around two different radius dielectric cylinders. Figure 11 presents the measured performance of the fabric antenna under varying bending conditions. While there are clear differences, the antenna does not appear to be unusable, even under the application of quite severe bending. The resonant frequency shows a high degree of stability and the Return Loss, also, is reasonably stable. Measurements of fabric antennas on mannequins body parts were also carried out, and one of the results of this measurement are summarised in Figure 12. It can be noted that there exists a negligible frequency shift, and small return loss degradation near the resonance frequency. It is felt that this is more likely to be the effect of the connector and the bending of the antenna than the mannequin.
0 406

floating on the water is good as the surface extending the ground plane of the antenna. The frequency is fairly stable, given the broad band nature of the S11 data.
Table 2. Measurement of fabric antenna environment stability Measurement Return Frequency Loss (dB) (MHz) Fabric antenna on Felt 13.7 440 425

Fabric antenna on Felt with Polythene Bag 12.6

Fabric antenna on Felt with bag on water

14

432

Fabric antenna on Felt with Bubble Wrap on 13.7 water Fabric antenna on Felt with Bubble Wrap 5mm under water 15

434.4

373 398

Fabric antenna on Felt submerged vertically 14.8 against brick wall

5

S11 (dB)

10

15 0

200

400

600

Frequency (MHz) Fabric Antenna MS1 Open Fabric Antenna MS1 Manequin

Fig. 12 Comparison of a S11 for flat fabric antenna and a fabric antenna mounted on mannequins chest

It has been demonstrated that a metamaterial working at low frequency can be constructed. Assessment of copper prototypes of a metasurface (see for example Figure 13a) working at 406 MHz were conducted through both simulations and measurements, and showed a well defined band gap in terms of transmission coefficient. The 406 MHz point lies within this band, and the frequency operational region of the EBG structure was considered between +450 of its reflection phase. The phase reflection results indicate that this proposed metasurface is suitable for 406 MHz systems.
L

Attempts to evaluate how the antenna is affected by its environment were carried out by measuring the fabric antenna in the Sonar Tank Room, using fresh water, at Loughborough University. The antenna was covered in a protective layer of bubble wrap. It was then inserted in a heavy duty polythene waterproof layer (a survival bag). Following this it was floated on the surface of the water in the tank. After this the antenna assembly was submerged so that it was parallel to the water surface some 5 mm below the surface. The final measurement was to submerge the antenna further and place its radiating face against the inner face of the brick wall of the tank. The results for this are summarised in Table 2, where we show the Return Loss and the Resonant Frequency. The 10 dB bandwidth was not changed hugely, apart from when the antenna was immersed in the water when the response shows quite clearly that the antenna is being heavily loaded by the water, albeit a small quantity, in front of it. It is clear that the water affects the antenna significantly, although it does appear to remain a workable device, even when placed just below the surface. The performance when the antenna is

(a)

(b)
Fig. 13 Unit cell of metasurface, 19cm x 15 cm (LxW) and (b) measured and predicted results for metasurface

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IV. CONCLUSIONS A balanced wideband dipole antenna with a dual V shaped geometry has been investigated when sandwiched between FSS mesh, as well as suspended on single mesh without superstrate. It has been shown that two parameter features of the dipole antenna, arm angle and base length can be used to control the impedance match and directivity respectively. The antenna exhibits moderate gain and good radiation coverage. These features make the proposed antenna suitable in weak signal environments. The fabric based antenna presented in this paper shows a good bandwidth around the operating frequency for a COSPAS/SARSAT satellite beacon. The degree of size reduction is excellent and further reduction appears to be possible. While a complete evaluation of the effects of curvature and protective layers on the pattern and the Axial Ratio remain to be completed the effect of flexing the antenna, or mounting it in protective material, does not move the resonant frequency significantly and the antenna appears to possess an admirable degree of immunity from flexing. This technology shows considerable potential for the production of satellite communication systems as well as, because of is compact nature, integration within planar furlable arrays for a wide range of markets. Further reduction in the ground plane size will be sought by using metamaterial techniques.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT Authors are grateful for the financial support from ESA/ESTEC, The Netherlands and Antrum Ltd, UK. We would like to thank Manchester University for fabricating embroidered spiral antenna prototypes used in this work. REFERENCES
[1] [2] N. Riauka, A. Chauraya, and J. C. Vardaxoglou, Compact antenna integrated into flat plate FSS, IEEE APS 2008, 5-11 July 2008, pp.1-4. A. P Feresidis, J. C. Vardaxoglou, High gain planar antenna using optimised partially reflective surfaces, Microwaves, Antennas and Propagation, IEE Proceedings - Volume 148, Issue 6, Dec. 2001, pp. 345 350. R. D. Seager, A. Chauraya, J. C. Vardaxoglou and P. deMaagt. Fabric Antennas Integrated with Metamaterials, Metamorphose 2008, Pamplona, Spain, 21st - 26th September 2008. M. Chen; J. Wang Study on V-Shaped Dipole Antenna Array for Pulse Radiation, Microwave, Antenna, Propagation and EMC Technologies for Wireless Communications, 2007 International Symposium, 16-17 Aug. 2007, pp. 723 726. R. C. Fenwick. A New Class of Electrically Small Antennas, IEEE Trans AP-13, No. 3, May 1965, pp. 379 - 383. S. R. Best and J. D. Morrow. The Effectiveness of Space-Filling Fractal Geometry in Lowering Resonant Frequency, IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters, Vol. 1, 2002, pp 112 - 115. H. A. Wheller, Fundamental limitaions of a small VLF antenna for submarines, Antennas and Propagation, IRE Transactions on Volume 6, Issue 1, January 1958, pp. 123 125. G. S. A. Shaker and S. Safavi-Naeini, A novel approach for designing miniaturized artificial magnetic conductors (AMCs) and electromagnetic band gap structures (EBGs); IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society International Symposium, Volume 3A, 3-8 July 2005, pp. 770 773.

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