A Novel Lens Antenna Design Based on a Bed of Nails Metasurface for New Generation Mobile Devices

摘要

This paper presents a lens antenna concept with multibeam performance in the mm-wave band for the next generation mobile devices. The lens consists of metallic vias, etched in the substrate with different height, to obtain different permittivity. The goal is to correct the phase distribution of the incoming electromagnetic wave, to radiate towards the desired direction with high gain. The –10 dB impedance bandwidth of 4 GHz is achieved around the central frequency of 38 GHz. Three beams pointing different directions allow to cover the angle range of 68° in azimuth with realized gain higher than 5 dBi. Simulations of the lens antenna placed on the top left corner of a mobile phone PCB confirm the performance of the prototype. Moreover, the total scan pattern (TSP) highlights wide coverage of 110° in elevation, where the gain is overall more than 6 dBi, reaching peak values of 9.4 dBi.