PIERS Proceedings, Hangzhou, China, March 24-28, 2008

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Metamaterial Techniques for Automotive Applications

K. Sato, T. Nomura, S. Matsuzawa, and H. Iizuka
Toyota Central Research & Development Labs., Inc., Japan

Abstract Automotive applications that metamaterials are expected to effectively contribute

to are presented, and research activities of metamaterials undertaken at Toyota Central R&D
Labs (TCRL) are reviewed. They include development of leaky-wave antennas for future millimeterwave radar systems, dipoles for UHF band applications, and topology design optimization techniques for periodic structures of metamaterials.
1. INTRODUCTION

Metamaterials are artificially constructed materials that have unusual electromagnetic properties
such as backward wave, reduced wavelength with decreasing frequency, nonlinear frequency characteristic of resonances, and so on. In the view point of engineering, metamaterials having such unusual electromagnetic properties are expected to extend significantly the design degrees of freedom
for materials, devices, components and systems. Significant research efforts have been expended
in the development of microwave and millimeter-wave metamaterials, such as couplers, resonators,
small antennas, and beam-scanned leaky wave antennas [13]. In addition, there are currently
considerable interests in the development of optical metamaterials such as a negative index planar
lens or superlens [4, 5]. Metamaterials are expected to provide new applications, drastic improvement of performance, simple architectures, low cost, and so on, in future automotive electronics
applications, as shown in Fig. 1. The automotive applications that metamaterials are expected to
effectively contribute to include beam scanning antenna systems for radars, mobile communication
antennas, novel magnetic materials for electric motors, the high-performance absorbing and shielding materials for electromagnetic compatibility. Metamaterials are also expected to be applied to
optical devices such as LED headlights and night vision systems using infrared cameras. Research
activities undertaken at Toyota Central R&D Labs (TCRL) are reviewed in this paper. Two types
of metamaterial-based antennas are presented. One is a leaky-wave antenna for future millimeterwave radar systems that need wide scanning angle with simple architecture. The other is a dipole
for UHF band applications. The dipole provides small size, or opposite polarization to conventional one. Also, design techniques are desired to maximize the performance of metamaterials. A
topology design optimization technique for periodic structures of metamaterials is presented with
an example model.

Frequenc
Frequency

LE
LED
High Optics Laser
Night vision
Tera
Radar
Millimeter
Microwa ve
Mobile antenna
TPMS
High freq .
EMC
Low

LEDD
LE
headlig ht
headlight

Motor
Magnetic
materials

EMC Body

Small
antennas

Millimeterwave
wave
radar
Laser
La
se r
rada
radarr

Magnetic field
Motor
Magnetic material
materials

Night vision
sy stemusing
system
usin g
Infrared camera

TPMS
:Ti re
:Tire
pressure
pres sure
monitoring
system
sy stem

Figure 1: Automotive applications metamaterials are expected to effectively contribute to.

2. TOPOLOGY DESIGN OPTIMIZATION

Topology optimization is a highly flexible optimization method that can simultaneously deal with
geometric and topological configuration changes [6]. Topology optimization is being used to develop
a novel method for designing the periodic microstructures of electromagnetic materials [7]. The

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design algorithm used for the variable change method is based on the density method. The main
feature involves representing the shape of a structure by the density of its micropores to allow for the
free transformation of the topology of the shape. The density of the material is translated to gradual
changes in the physical properties such as the stiffness, weight or electromagnetic permittivity.
Then, the density distribution is optimized for a desired specification by applying a mathematical
non-linear programming technique. This approach is very attractive because of its simplicity and
efficiency.
An example of a periodic electromagnetic band-gap dielectric material designed using topology
optimization is shown in Fig. 2. The initial design is of a homogenous material in which the
relative permittivity, r , is 5. Fig. 2 shows that the microstructure is generated as the iteration
step progresses and finally either a void or a filled/solid material is produced. In this manner,
topology optimization can be used to produce new, optimized metamaterial microstructures with
a specific band-gap.
Electric field amplitude
structure

Start

Final
1

10
Relative permittivity

Figure 2: Example of electromagnetic band-gap structure using topology optimization design.

3. COMPOSITE RIGHT/LEFT-HANDED LEAKY WAVE ANTENNA (CRLH LWA)

There is a greatly increased interest in the development of automotive radar sensors for adaptive
cruise control and pre-crash safety systems using a millimeter-wave band from 76 to 77 GHz. For
these systems, a field of view (FOV) covering about 20 over a range of 150 m is sufficient and
can be provided by most sensors on the market today. However, new developments like stop &
go adaptive cruise control and collision avoidance assistance systems require a broader FOV up
to 60 , over a maximum range of 60 m in order to adequately deal with cut-in situations. A novel
structure for a frequency-independent steerable composite right/left handed leaky wave antenna
for the millimeter-wave band applications is presented [89]. This antenna offers the advantages of
wide beam scanning, high gain and a simple structure in the millimeter-wave band. The prototype
CRLH LWA shown in Fig. 3 was fabricated and tested in the millimeter-wave band. In the near

Microstrip to waveguide
transitions
x
Teflon substrate

z Patch

0.459
0.45
00

45 deg. inclined
polarization

CRLH LW an
antenna
tenna
Feed
(a) Configuration

(b) Prototype

Figure 3: Millimeter-wave leaky wave antenna.

PIERS Proceedings, Hangzhou, China, March 24-28, 2008

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future, it may be possible to realize automotive radar antenna systems with a high gain in excess
of 20 dBi by using the proposed antenna. We believe that the LHLWA is a promising design for
automotive millimeter-wave applications.
4. LEFT-HANDED DIPOLE ANTENNAS

A new concept for forming a dipole antenna using a left-handed transmission line is next described [10]. The antenna is composed of a ladder network periodic structure of unit cells. The
unit cell has a shunt inductor and two serious capacitors. Adding capacitors to one side of the network leads to out-of-phase currents with different amplitudes that produce high levels of radiation.
The antenna has a unique feature in that the wavelength decreases with the frequency. The concept
is applied to two antennas. The first is a small dipole, shown in Fig. 4(a). The straight dipole
worked in the fundamental mode. The antenna of 0.18 wavelengths in free space provided a gain
of 3.9 dBi at 547 MHz and bandwidth of 1.7% for |S11| < 10 dB. The second is an orthogonally
polarized dipole, shown in Fig. 4(b). The meandered dipole worked in the higher order mode.
Polarization orthogonal to a right-handed one was achieved at 643 MHz by the induced current of
nine half wavelengths on the meander having 0.77 wavelengths in free space. These novel dipoles
offer a great promise for future automotive mobile communications.
z

20

Inductor
y

Feed
point
180

100

Feed
point

Inductor
Capacitor
10

(a) Straight dipole

Capacitor
Unit: mm

Unit: mm

(b) Meandered dipole

Figure 4: Left-handed dipole antennas.

5. CONCLUSIONS

A topology design optimization technique for electromagnetic materials, a left-handed leaky wave
antenna for millimeter-wave applications, and left-handed dipole antennas have been presented
along with some thoughts for future investigation. These have been the subjects of recent metamaterial studies at TCRL. Metamaterials will clearly open up a whole new field for automotive
electronics applications.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The authors would like to express their sincere gratitude to research collaborators.
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