Abstract
A novel nematic liquid crystal (LC) technology-based electronically controlled leaky wave antenna (LWA) with microstrip-waveguide conversion working mechanism and wide beam steering range is presented in this article. The LWA is a combination of an inverted microstrip structure and rectangular waveguide. According to the characteristics of LC materials in microwave band, a broadband microstrip-waveguide conversion device is proposed. The gradient slot leaky wave structure is combined with the microstrip-waveguide conversion device to form an electronically controlled LWA with continuous tunable beam. Simulation and experiment results show that the LWA proposed in this article has a 32° beam scanning range at 12 GHz and good impedance matching and stable gain, suggesting the great potential of nematic LC materials for extensive applications in microwave band in the future.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | e22188 |
| Journal | International Journal of RF and Microwave Computer-Aided Engineering |
| Volume | 30 |
| Issue number | 6 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Jun 2020 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Free Keywords
- beam steering
- leaky wave antenna (LWA)
- liquid crystal (LC)
- microstrip-waveguide conversion
- nematic
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Computer Science Applications
- Computer Graphics and Computer-Aided Design
- Electrical and Electronic Engineering