Reconfigurable holographic leaky‐wave antenna based on liquid crystal materials

Abstract

This paper introduces a beam‐scanning holographic antenna composed of a substrate‐integrated waveguide (SIW) feeding structure and a rectangular microstrip array. The antenna innovatively combines holographic theory with liquid crystal electrical tunability to realize single‐frequency large‐angle beam scanning function which can effectively solve the problem of beamforming reconfiguration in traditional array antenna systems. In this paper, the variation of dielectric constant of liquid crystal under different bias voltages is quantitatively analyzed. Additionally, the beam forming technology is analyzed under hologram amplitude weighting theory. The relevant theories are verified by manufacturing and testing. The prototype antenna achieves the ultra‐wide beam scanning angle of −63° to 63° at 36 GHz.