Tunable Fabry–Perot Cavity THz Antenna Based on Leaky-Wave Propagation in Nematic Liquid Crystals
Authors:
- Walter FuscaldoWFWalter Fuscaldo
- Silvia TofaniSTSilvia Tofani
- Dimitrios C. ZografopoulosDimitrios C. Zografopoulos
- Paolo BaccarelliPBPaolo Baccarelli
- Paolo BurghignoliPBPaolo Burghignoli
- Romeo BeccherelliRBRomeo Beccherelli
- Alessandro GalliAGAlessandro Galli
- 18 April 2017
- journal article
- Published by Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) in IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters
- Vol. 16 (15361225) , 2046-2049
Abstract
A novel THz Fabry-Perot cavity (FPC) antenna is proposed, based on a multistack of alternating layers of highly birefringent nematic liquid crystal (NLC) and high-permittivity dielectric, which comprehensively acts as a Bragg reflector. This layout is able to provide enhanced reconfigurability and improved directivity with respect to standard FPC leaky-wave antenna (LWA) designs. The application of a low driving voltage to the NLC layers allows for the dynamic control of the radiating properties of the LWA, at a fixed frequency in the low THz range. The attractive features and performance of two different configurations are rigorously discussed in a theoretical context, taking into account the realistic implementation of the proposed device.Keywords
This publication has 11 references indexed in Scilit:
- Leaky‐Wave Antennas2016
- Electrically tunable liquid crystal terahertz phase shifter driven by transparent polymer electrodesJournal of Materials Chemistry C, 2016
- A Reconfigurable Substrate–Superstrate Graphene-Based Leaky-Wave THz AntennaIEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters, 2016
- Self-biased reconfigurable graphene stacks for terahertz plasmonicsNature Communications, 2015
- Highly birefringent, low-loss liquid crystals for terahertz applicationsAPL Materials, 2013
- Design and Measurement of Reconfigurable Millimeter Wave Reflectarray Cells With Nematic Liquid CrystalIEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, 2008
- Broadband Dielectric Characterization of Aluminum Oxide (Al2O3)Journal of Microelectronics and Electronic Packaging, 2008
- Microfluidic devices for terahertz spectroscopy of biomoleculesOptics Express, 2008
- Leaky-wave propagation and radiation for a narrow-beam multiple-layer dielectric structureIEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, 1993
- Electrically tunable optical filter for infrared wavelength using liquid crystals in a Fabry–Perot étalonApplied Physics Letters, 1990