The surface of the antenna is composed of an artificial thin-sheet material with sub-wavelength thickness that can be changed by switching the meta-atoms on its surface between radiating and non-radiating states. This process is equivalent to turning on and off switches by controlling the electric current.
This allows the surface of the antenna to achieve complicated radio wave manipulation through software control, including highly directed beams.
“The concept provides an analytical approach to synthesise antennas with the desired radiation patterns for different specific uses by simply changing the antennas’ shape and structure,” said researcher Dr Wu Gengbo.
The antenna relies on the successful combination of two research advances, namely amplitude-modulated (AM) leaky-wave antennas and space-time coding techniques.
The time modulation of electromagnetic waves on surfaces like that created for the antenna usually generates unwanted harmonic frequencies...