Surface wave guiding apparatus and method for guiding the surface wave along an arbitrary path

摘要

An artificial impedance surface for rotating a surface wave on the artificial surface about a point along a circumferential path relative to said point in a phase preserving manner along said circumferential path. A method of guiding a transverse electric or transverse magnetic surface wave bound to an artificial impedance surface along a non-linear path comprising: smoothly rotating a principal axis of a surface tensor impedance matrix of the artificial impedance surface as a function of space, so the a propagation wavevector of the transverse electric or transverse magnetic surface wave rotates along with it, remaining aligned with the direction of the principal axis; and tailoring a surface wavenumber in a propagation direction of the non-linear path in such a way as to maintain a constant-phase for a wavefront of the transverse electric or transverse magnetic surface wave.

主权项

1. A surface supporting transverse electric (TE) or transverse magnetic (TM) surface bound waves, said surface having one or more arrays of electrically conductive patches arranged thereon to urge said transverse electric or a transverse magnetic surface bound waves to follow an arbitrary path, having a smoothly changing radius of curvature, while maintaining a phase preserving wavefront along said arbitrary path, wherein the one or more arrays of electrically conductive patches gradually change size and/or shape and/or orientation within a defined region on said surface where the surface bound waves propagate, in use, along said arbitrary path.