Ricerc@Sapienza

In this paper, a systematic design of Fabry-Perot cavity antennas based on leaky waves is proposed in the THz range. The use of different topologies for the synthesis of homogenized metasurfaces shows that a specific fishnetlike unit cell is particularly suitable for the design of efficient THz radiating devices. Accurate full-wave simulations highlight the advantages and disadvantages of the proposed geometries, thoroughly considering the bounds dictated by technological constraints and the homogenization limit as well.

In this work we examine the recent efforts made in the design of either efficient or reconfigurable Fabry-Perot cavity leaky-wave antennas (FPC-LWAs) in the terahertz (THz) range. We start by discussing the radiating performance of an FPC-LWA consisting of a grounded dielectric slab (GDS) covered with a periodic arrangement of fishnet-like unit cells. This antenna design shows a rather high directivity at broadside, but is not capable of reshaping the pattern at fixed frequency.