Proceedings of the 39th European Microwave Conference

Investigation of Metamaterial Leaky Wave Antenna

Based on Complementary Split Ring Resonators
Stéphanie Eggermont#1, Robert Platteborze#2, Isabelle Huynen#3
#
Microwave Laboratory, EMIC, Université catholique de Louvain,
Place du Levant, 3 – B1348 Louvain La Neuve – Belgium
1
stephanie.eggermont@uclouvain.be
2
robert.platteborze@uclouvain.be
3
isabelle.huynen@uclouvain.be

Abstract— This paper aims at designing an RF tag planar which have been introduced by Falcone et al. [10] In [11], a
antenna around 2.4 GHz enabling a frequency beam steering in microstrip host line with series gaps and loaded with CSRRs
the plane of the substrate. The structure is based on a leaky-wave in its ground plane (cf. Fig. 1 (a),(b)) is proposed. The series
antenna topology using a transmission line with series gaps provide the negative effective permeability to the
(capacitive) gaps and CSRRs periodically loading a host
structure, whereas the CSRRs are responsible for the negative
microstrip line. Its behaviour is first assessed by the array factor
approach using simulated S-parameters that are validated by effective permittivity. Hence the periodic structure can be
measurements. Full-wave simulations of radiation pattern with considered as a CRLH line: it actually exhibits similar
IE3D software show that radiation occurs mainly in the plane of characteristics with right-handed and left-handed frequency
the substrate and is tunable with frequency. bands [4], depending on the respective capacitive or inductive
behaviour of series and parallel branches of the equivalent
I. INTRODUCTION circuit of Fig. 1 (c) [8]. Some applications of this structure
The scope of this work is the identification and the efficient concern high-pass filters, couplers, etc... The structure of Fig.
localization of objects with RFID structures [1], using 1 (a) is realized on substrate Rogers RT5870 and measured
electromagnetic waves for data transfer between RF tags and a with Vector Network Analyser Agilent PNA-X N5242A. The
reader. The main advantage compared with classical systems comparison of S-Parameters in Fig. 2 shows good agreement
is a flexible contactless data flow between the data-carrying between measurements and simulation using IE3D software
device and the reader (for example in flow storage with from Zeland. The dispersion diagram of the cell, extracted
labelling: many objects can be identified easily without from simulated S-parameters, is illustrated in Fig. 3 where the
unnecessary handlings). Furthermore new functionalities can leakage factor α and the propagation constant β of the
be added in a reprogrammable tag, like temperature and equivalent TL are shown. It will be used in the next section to
pressure sensors. predict the leaky-wave frequency range of the structure.
In this context, this paper aims at designing an RF tag
planar antenna enabling a frequency beam steering in the
plane of the substrate. The frequency range is close to 2.4
GHz, reserved in Europe for telemetry transmitters and LAN
systems for the wireless networking of PCs [1]. State of the art
includes different solutions based for example on progressive
antennas [2], antennas network [3] and, last but not least,
antennas with metamaterials [4] – [7].
In this paper, the radiation phenomena in a Composite
Right and Left Handed (CRLH) transmission line (TL) based
on Complementary Split Rings Resonators (CSRRs) [8] are
investigated in order to obtain a compact leaky-wave antenna.
In Section II, a CRLH unit cell based on series (capacitive)
gaps and CSRRs loading a host microstrip line is designed for
the aimed frequency range. In Section III, the operation of the
CRLH transmission line as a leaky-wave antenna (LWA) is
discussed.

II. CRLH UNIT CELL BASED ON COMPLEMENTARY SPLIT-
RING RESONATORS
The sub-wavelength resonators considered in this paper are
those originally proposed by Pendry et al. [9], namely Split
Ring Resonators (SRRs), and their dual counterpart CSRRs,
Fig. 1 – (a) Layout, (b) 3D view, (c) Equivalent circuit model [8] of the CSSR
structure (ground plane is depicted in grey whereas upper metal is depicted in
black, the substrate between upper metal and ground plane has the following
characteristics: εr = 2.33, h = 0.5 mm, tgδ = 0.003. The dimensions are: rin =
3.5 mm, rout = 4.5 mm, G = 1 mm, C = 0.5 mm, D = 0.5 mm, Wout = π.rout/32,
Win = π.rin/32, W = 1.47 mm).

978-2-87487-011-8 © 2009 EuMA 209 29 September - 1 October 2009, Rome, Italy


Fig. 2 – S-Parameters of single cell shown at Fig. 1 measured (dotted) and
simulated with IE3D (solid).
Fig. 3 – Dispersion diagram of single cell of Fig. 1: the magenta cone shows
the leaky radiation area, delimited by the air lines |β| < k0 (vp > c), the
radiation bandwidth is situated between 2.44 GHz and 2.60 GHz for the left
handed propagation.
III. LEAKY-WAVE ANTENNA BASED ON CSRRS.
To our best knowledge, CSRRs are mainly used in antenna
field to improve the bandwidth of a patch antenna [12]. In this
work, we use them to create a LWA, which is a radiating TL
structure [4]. The free space wavenumber k0 = ω/c, which
vector points to the direction of radiation of the main beam,
can be separated into 2 components: one longitudinal (x) and
one perpendicular (z) to the direction of the LWA (cf. Fig.
1(a)):
k0 = k z 2 + β 2 (1)
This relation shows that if |β| > k0 (phase velocity: vp < c,
slow wave), kz is imaginary, and the field is exponentially
decaying along z, which means that the wave is completely
guided. In contrast, if |β| < k0 (vp > c, fast wave), kz is real,
and therefore free space leakage radiation occurs [13].
A. Prediction of radiation from unit cell radiation.
Fig. 3 shows that, for the CSRRs TL studied in this paper,
leakage radiation occurs between 2.44 GHz and 2.60 GHz,
that is when values of propagation constant β are within the
210
radiation cone. The created TL is a cascade of 8 cells from Fig.
1(a). Caloz et al. present in [4] an array factor approach to
predict the radiation pattern R(θ) of LWA antennas :
R (θ ) = E (θ ). AF (θ ) (2)
where E(θ) is the single cell radiation pattern and AF(θ) the
array factor. The single cell radiation pattern E(θ) is simulated
with IE3D, while the array factor AF(θ) for N cells is given
by :
N
AF (θ ) = ∑ I ne j ( n −1) k o p sin θ + jζ n
n =1 (3)
with
ζ n = −(n − 1) k 0 p sin θ MB (4)
and
I n = I 0e −α ( n −1) p (5)
where p is the period of the structure, In is an exponentially
decaying function determined by the leakage factor α, shown
in Fig. 3 and θMB represents the angle of the main beam and is
determined by
θ MB = arcsin(β / k0 ) (6)
where the propagation constant β is also shown in Fig. 3 [4].
The application of this formalism is depicted in Fig. 4 for the
left handed leaky wave bandwidth. The main radiation
direction varies with frequency from backward radiation (θ=-
90°) to broadside radiation (θ=0°) because θMB depends on β
and so changes dramatically in the leaky bandwidth with
frequency.
Fig. 4 – Prediction of the radiation pattern R(θ) as the product of the single
cell pattern E(θ) simulated by IE3D and the array factor AF(θ) according to (3)
for the cascade of 8 cells of Fig. 1 (N=8, p=12.5mm) (dark blue dotted : 2.44
GHz (θMB=-90°), light blue star : 2.45 GHz (θMB=-65°), red square : 2.47 GHz
(θMB=-42°), pink circle : 2.48 GHz (θMB=-32°), green hexagon : 2.5 GHz
(θMB=-7°), black line : 2.52 GHz (θMB=-2°) where θMB is calculated from (6)
applied to simulation results of Fig. 3).
B. Transmission line based on CSRRs.
Fig. 5 shows the layout and photos of fabrication of a TL
based on eight CSRRs. The structure of Fig. 1 (a) is realized
on substrate Rogers RT5870 and measured with Vector
Network Analyser Agilent PNA-X N5242A. The comparison
of S-Parameters measured and simulated by IE3D software is
shown in Fig. 6. Discrepancy between measurements and
simulations can be explained by fabrication tolerances. The
dispersion diagram of the structure extracted from S-
parameters is illustrated in Fig. 7. Leakage radiation occurs
between 2.84 GHz and 3.19 GHz. Discrepancy between
predicted leaky wave bandwidth for 1 cell and 8 cells is
explained by the influence of coupling between cells.
Fig. 5 – Layout and photos of cascade of 8 cells. On top: photo of ground
plane and bottom: photo of top metal (distance between cells : 2.5 mm).
Fig. 6 – S-Parameters of cascade of 8 cells of Fig. 5 measured (dotted) and
simulated with IE3D (solid).
Fig. 7 – Dispersion diagram of the cascade of 8 cells of Fig. 5 for
measurement (dotted) and simulation with IE3D (solid) : the magenta cone
shows the leaky radiation region, delimited by the air lines |β| < k0 (vp > c),
the radiation bandwidth is situated between 2.84 GHz and 3.19 GHz for the
left handed propagation.
C. Simulation and analysis of radiation of 8 cells structure.
The radiation pattern of the structure of Fig. 5 is simulated
with IE3D software. Fig. 8 shows 3D radiation simulation for
two frequencies within the predicted leaky wave bandwidth.
Frequency beam steering is observed in the (Φ=0°) plane, i.e.
(X-Z) plane of Fig. 5, according to the array factor prediction
presented in previous section (cf. Fig. 9), but also in the
211
(θ=90°) plane, i.e. in (X-Y) plane of Fig. 5 or the plane of the
substrate. Leaky-wave propagation along the transmission line
is thus responsible for free space radiation in the (Φ=0°) plane,
and for surface wave radiation in the (θ=90°) plane. We have
indeed verified by solving Helmholtz equations in the
structure that surface wave TM modes are present, with
wavenumber equal to k0 and with an angle of propagation
equal to θMB, inducing radiation in the plane of the antenna.
Beam scanning at very low incidence is thus possible with the
proposed geometry.
Fig. 8 – 3D Simulation of radiation pattern for TL based on 8 cells of Fig. 5
at 2.84 GHz (upper) and at 2.98 GHz (lower).
Fig. 9 – Simulation of the radiation pattern in (Φ=0°) X-Z plane from IE3D
for cascade of 8 cells of Fig. 5 (dark blue dotted : 2.84 GHz (θMB=-90°), light
blue star : 2.85 GHz (θMB=-67°), red square : 2.91 GHz (θMB=-45°), pink
circle : 2.99 GHz (θMB=-23°), green hexagon : 3.03 GHz (θMB=-10°), black
line : 3.18 GHz (θMB=0°), where θMB calculated from (6) applied to simulation
results of Fig. 7 is given for comparison).
Fig. 10 – Simulation of the radiation pattern in (θ=90°) X-Y plane simulated
by IE3D for 8 cells of Fig. 5 (dark blue dotted : 2.84 GHz (θMB=-90°), light
blue star : 2.85 GHz (θMB=-67°), red square : 2.91 GHz (θMB=-45°), pink
circle : 2.99 GHz (θMB=-23°), green hexagon : 3.03 GHz (θMB=-10°), black
line : 3.18 GHz (θMB=0°), where θMB calculated from (6) applied to simulation
results of Fig. 7 is given for comparison).
 IV. CONCLUSIONS
This paper has for the first time investigated radiation
phenomena induced by leaky-wave propagation occurring in a
transmission line (TL) based on series (capacitive) gaps and
CSRRs periodically loading a host microstrip line. The design
of the unit cell has be done for RFID applications around 2.4
GHz. Prediction of radiation pattern of this TL like a LWA is
based on an array factor approach using the radiation pattern
of a single cell. Full wave simulation of the cascade of 8 cells
has first shown that free space leaky wave radiation in (Φ=0°)
plane appears in the bandwidth predicted by the array factor
approach. Next, surface wave radiation also occurs in the
(θ=90°) X-Y plane of the substrate. This has interesting
applications for low profile detectors in monitoring and access
control systems. Measurements of the radiation pattern in
anechoic chamber are planned in the coming weeks to assess
this behaviour.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT [10]
The authors are grateful to the Research Science
Foundation (FRS-FNRS, Belgium) and to the Walloon Region,
through project DGTRE RFTAG. The authors are also [11]
grateful to Prof. Christophe Craeye from UCL and Dr. Benoît
Stockbroeckx from ANPI for fruitful discussions.
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