Design and characterization of a tunable DNG metamaterial superstrate for small beam steering antennas

摘要

The design and the characterization of a tunable double negative metamaterial is proposed in order to create a superstrate for beam steering applications in small antennas. The tunable metamaterial is based on an omega shaped unit cell and is investigated and validated by waveguide measurements. An appropriate loading of the metamaterial unit cell, through the use of a varactor diode, enables to vary the medium index of the superstrate within an interesting range. This metamaterial superstrate is then associated to a patch antenna in its near field zone permitting to steer the beam in several directions within elevation plane.