A Near Field Polarization Reconfigurable Fully Metallic Metasurface With 3D Printed Pyramidal Horn Antenna for Millimeter-Wave Applications

Abstract

This article presents a near-field, electronically polarization-reconfigurable, lightweight, low-cost millimeter-wave antenna system featuring a fully metallic metasurface (FMM) superstrate over a 3D-printed pyramidal horn antenna. The proposed unit cells of the FMM superstrate consist of three identical metallic layers, each adorned with periodically perforated L-shaped structures at every corner, along with a central horizontal rectangular slot. The antenna prototype supports LHCP, LP, and RHCP polarization configurations through three different electronic axial rotations of the FMM superstrate at the horn antenna's aperture. Both simulations and experiments are conducted to validate the antenna design, demonstrating good agreement and confirming the feasibility of the proposed design. The antenna achieves a 3 dB axial ratio (AR) bandwidth of 400 MHz, with a maximum realized gain reduction of 0.5 dB and a peak gain of 21.6 dBi at 30.1 GHz, while maintaining an excellent side lobe level of −21 dB.