Analysis and design of new electronically reconfigurable periodic leaky-wave antennas

Abstract

[SPA] El principal objetivo de la tesis es el estudio de nuevas tecnologías en el campo de las antenas reconfigurables. En particular, la tesis se centra en explorar y explotar el potencial que presentan un tipo de antenas denominadas como ¿Antenas basadas en Modos de Fuga¿ para controlar electrónicamente su diagrama de radiación. La tesis desarrolla el análisis, diseño y fabricación de tres novedosas antenas basadas en modos de fuga capaces de variar mediante unas pocas señales de control y de forma continua su ángulo de apuntamiento. El mecanismo de reconfiguración electrónica principalmente se basa en el control de la dispersión de los modos de fuga excitados en dichas estructuras, mediante un control electrónico introducido empleando estructuras periódicas resonantes combinadas con elementos activos tales como diodos varactores. La tesis demuestra claramente la utilidad de estas antenas en el campo de la reconfiguración electrónica, proponiendo estas nuevas estructuras como alternativas a otras soluciones más clásicas (como antenas en array de fase reconfigurables o reflectores parabólicos mecánicamente re-orientables mecánicamente) y otras de actualidad (como reflectarrays, transmitarrays, antenas metamateriales o antenas pixeladas), las cuales todas ellas presentan otros problemas en términos de coste, complejidad de diseño o limitaciones de escalabilidad en frecuencia, aportando así esta tesis novedosos conceptos de reconfiguración electrónica.

[ENG] The thesis aims the design of novel reconfigurable antennas with electronic beam-scanning. In particular, the antennas analyzed are known as Fabry-Perot Antennas (FPA) and are currently of high interest in the scientific community because of their high-directivity, low-profile and structure simplicity, what allow them to be an interesting alternative to other technologies (e.g. parabolic reflectors, phased arrays, etc.) which require of complex power distribution networks, bulky external sources or costly techniques to achieve reconfigurable capabilities. In this thesis, the integration of active components, such as varactor diodes, with FPRA structures, is exploited to achieve electronic control of their aperture illumination, which in turn results in the electronic steering of the radiation-pattern main beam. A modal analysis based on the leaky-wave theory has allowed to understand and predict the behavior of these structures. An equivalent circuit model was developed to design and optimize the dimensions of theses complex structures, saving computational cost and time. The antennas are based on the control of the frequency dispersion response and the electromagnetic band-gap (EBG) properties of periodic structures, employing specially designed Frequency-Selective Surfaces (FSS) loaded with varactor diodes. Three novel antenna prototypes were manufactured to demonstrate electronic steering capability operating at 5.5GHz. Continuous scanning in elevation (1D scanning) and also in elevation and azimuth simultaneously (2D scanning) have been achieved employing just a few control signals (between 1 and 4 signals). The antenna structures have been implemented in a low-cost technology based on parallel plate waveguides and printed circuit boards which have allowed to design antennas with a reduced profile. Theoretical, simulated and experimental results are shown for each prototype to demonstrate the concepts. Also, some future lines related to novel planar reconfigurable antennas in development are also outlined. One of the main potential advantages of the reconfiguring principles presented for future applications is their frequency scalability. This would allow to apply these concepts to other technologies, such as MEMS or graphene, to build new reconfigurable antennas able to operate at higher frequency bands (e.g. mm-bands) for future applications.