Enhancement of Gain and Elevation Tilt-Angle Using Metamaterial Loading for Millimeter Wave Applications
Elevation-plane beam tilting is demonstrated for a printed dipole antenna operating over 57–64 GHz. This is achieved using a 3×4 array of high refractive-index metamaterial (HRIM) unit-cells. The unit-cell comprises a modified H-shaped structure with stub loading to control the refractive-index of the unit-cell over a finite frequency range.
Integration of the 3×4 array in the H-plane of a dipole antenna is shown to deflect the main beam by +30 degrees with respect to the end-fire direction over 57–64 GHz. In addition, the proposed technique provides 5 dB gain enhancement.
