A Frequency-Controlled Wide-Angle Scanning Antenna Based on Spoof Surface Plasmon Polariton

A frequency-controlled wide-angle scanning antenna based on spoof surface plasmon polariton (SSPP) is proposed. The SSPP is constructed by an array of U-shaped metal blocks, and a periodic array of open-loops shorted to the ground is placed above the SSPP as the radiating elements. Because of the SSPP and the open-loop radiators, the antenna has superior radiation properties including wide-angle scanning range and low fluctuations of gain. The proposed antenna uses an all-metal structure, including the SSPP and the radiators. Measurement results show that the proposed antenna can achieve wide-angle scanning from −55° to 51° over a frequency range from 12.2 to 16.2 GHz with a gain fluctuation less than 2 dB. The average gain of the proposed antenna is 12.96 dBi and the total efficiency is more than 74.1% within the entire operating frequency band.