Parallel-plate slot antenna with a planar left-handed lens for TEM plane wave excitation at 7.5 GHz

A planar parabolic LH lens implemented with the mushroom structure has been used to feed a parallel-plate slot antenna at 7.5 GHz with a uniform plane wave. Parametrical researches to know how each unit cell geometrical parameter affects to the variations in the dispersion diagram of the mushroom structure have been done, and it has allowed to design a homogeneous and isotropic unit cell which works as a LH medium at 7.5 GHz. Then it has been demonstrated that if it is excited a cylindrical wave in the focus lens it is achieved a plane wave with a ripple lower than 5 dB within PPWG, and, thereby, that it is possible to enhance the parallel-plate slot antennas radiation efficiency. Furthermore, this kind of excitation circuits reduces the fabrication costs. In order to validate the unit cell design would be desirable to achieve a full-wave simulation with a real LH lens shaped by the mushroom structure of table 1, and, besides, to build a prototype with the simulated dimensions of the LH lens and the PPWG, for measuring the electrical field inside PPWG and the parallel-plate slot antenna radiation pattern. These simulations and measurements results will be presented in the AP-S meeting.