Ricerc@Sapienza

Planar antennas with advanced radiation features will play a prominent role in a number of key areas, ranging from future (5G) wireless communication networks to imaging systems for security screening and biomedical applications, radar and environmental remote sensing, and wireless power transfer.

The proposed research aims at the analysis, design and experimental characterization of novel planar radiators operating at microwave and millimeter-wave frequencies and based on the exploitation of higher or broken spatial symmetries. Electromagnetic systems based on periodic structures with such kinds of symmetries (or lack thereof) have been explored during the last few years, revealing intriguing and very promising propagation and radiation features. In this proposal the focus will be on traveling-wave antennas based on the excitation of leaky waves; in particular, three aspects will be addressed: i) modal propagation in 1-D periodic 2-D structures with broken symmetry in the unit cell; ii) radiation from cylindrical leaky waves with higher azimuthal order in uniform or radially periodic structures; iii) planar structures with transverse dilation symmetry.

General multilayered structures will be considered, comprising both homogeneous dielectric media, metal ground planes, and thin metallized layers, amenable to a simple and cost-effective realization and deployment. The designs will be crucially based on accurate modal analyses, with particular reference to complex (leaky) modes, i.e., to partially radiative regimes. Full-wave numerical simulations will also be performed, to validate the theory and the effectiveness of the developed solutions. Prototypes of selected designs will also be realized and experimentally characterized.