Mechanical 144 GHz beam steering with all-metallic epsilon-near-zero lens antenna

Abstract

An all-metallic steerable beam antenna composed of an ε-near-zero (ENZ) metamaterial lens is experimentally demonstrated at 144 GHz (λ0 = 2.083 mm). The ENZ lens is realized by an array of narrow hollow rectangular waveguides working just near and above the cut-off of the TE10 mode. The lens focal arc on the xz-plane is initially estimated analytically as well as numerically and compared with experimental results demonstrating good agreement. Next, a flange-ended WR-6.5 waveguide is placed along the lens focal arc to evaluate the ENZ-lens antenna steerability. A gain scan loss below 3 dB is achieved for angles up to ±15°.