Electronic Beam Control and Frequency Scanning of a Graphene Antenna Array in the Terahertz and Far-IR Frequency Ranges

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to model the characteristics (scattering matrix element |S₁₁| and 2D and 3D radiation patterns (RPs)) of phased-array antennas (PAAs) composed of graphene-based nanoribbon elements with different numbers of emitters (N = 16, 64, and 256) and analyze their controllability under variable chemical potential (application of an external electric field) in the terahertz and far-IR frequency ranges using the CST Studio Suite 2021 software package. The characteristics (scattering matrix and 2D and 3D RPs) of a graphene antenna and a PAA composed of graphene nanoribbon elements with a different number of emitters (N = 16, 64, and 256) and the controllability of the PAA depending on the chemical potential (µ_c = 0.3, 0.7, and 1 eV) in the frequency range f = 6–40 THz are simulated using the CST Studio Suite 2021 software. As follows from the electrodynamic simulation results, a change in the graphene chemical potential leads to changes in the PAA characteristics (half-power main lobe width \({{\Theta }_{{0.5}}}\), its amplitude, side-lobe level, direction of the RP main lobe, and operating frequencies). Phased-array antennas composed of rectangular graphene nanoribbon elements can be electrically controlled with frequency scanning by changing chemical potential µ_c (by applying an external electric field) in the terahertz, far-IR, and mid-IR frequency ranges.