A pattern reconfigurable antenna based on switchable spoof surface plasmon polaritons (SSPPs) transmission line is experimentally presented. There are two fundamental modes on traditional SSPPs transmission line, the odd mode and the even mode. In this paper, we propose the switching of fundamental modes transmitted on the SSPPs transmission line by controlling the status of three PIN diodes. As a consequence, the proposed antenna can provide a broadside radiation beam (in the even mode) and an endfire radiation beam (in the odd mode). The measured results show that for broadside radiation, the main lobe direction ranges from 56 • to 84 • within the operating band (|S 11 | < −10 dB) of 4.85-5.25 GHz, while for the endfire radiation, the main lobe points almost constantly to x-direction within 4.85-5.25 GHz. By switching the antenna working state, the proposed antenna can realize almost 84 • beam switching at 4.85 GHz. The pattern reconfigurability of this antenna with favorable performance characteristics, such as high gain, frequency scanning, low profile, and wide-angle beam switching, makes it an ideal candidate for many WLAN and satellite communication applications. INDEX TERMS Pattern reconfigurable, switchable spoof surface plasmon polaritons, wide-angle beam steering.

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A compact slot-coupled endfire radiation antenna based on a tapering spoof surface plasmon polaritons (SSPPs) structure with high efficiency is proposed in this paper. A narrow slot balun is designed to feed the SSPPs structure rather than to work as the primary radiator. Simulated results show that the odd SPP mode is successfully excited on the tapering SSPPs structure, which contributes to the endfire radiation. Due to the high confinement of SSPPs, the proposed antenna shows low RCS within the frequency band of 1.5 GHz-4 GHz and 5.6 GHz-8 GHz. A prototype is fabricated and tested. Simulated and measured results show good agreement that the proposed antenna can provide stable endfire radiation patterns within the frequency band of 2 GHz-3.4 GHz. The maximum gain reaches 8 dBi, and the average efficiency over this bandwidth is 80%. The high-efficiency endfire SSPPs antenna with balanced broad band and high gain has a promising application in communication systems and integrated circuits.