The end‐fire Vivaldi antenna based on spoof surface plasmon polaritons

Abstract

This letter proposes an end‐fire Vivaldi antenna based on spoof surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs). SPP is generated by a periodic corrugated metal–insulator–metal (CMIM) waveguide on which the odd mode of the SPP is propagated and is rarely used in the design of antenna transmission lines. Gradient corrugations and slotlines form the transitional part to achieve momentum matching and impedance matching between the microstrip feed line and plasma waveguide. In addition, one parasitic patch is introduced in flare aperture to improve the performance of the radiation. Both the simulation and measured results are carried out and match well with the theoretical design. This antenna generates end‐fire radiation beams within 4‐9 GHz frequency range (S11 < –10 dB). Measured results show that the realized gain is higher than 8.87 dB and the 3 dB beam width is stable between 31 and 36° over the operation frequency.