RECONFIGURABLE ANTENNAS UTILIZING LIQUID METAL ELEMENTS

摘要

A reconfigurable antenna that utilizes liquid metal to achieve dynamic antenna performance is disclosed. The reconfigurable antenna may utilize one or more liquid metal sections that can be variably displaced. Utilizing liquid metal may reduce certain undesirable effects associated with more conventional mechanical reconfigurable antennas including mechanical failure due to material fatigue, creep, and/or wear. Precise microfluidic techniques may be utilized in the design of a reconfigurable antenna that utilizes liquid metal. The reconfigurable antenna may utilize a circular Yagi-Uda array design and include movable parasitic director and reflector elements implemented using liquid metal (e.g., mercury (Hg)). The parasitic elements may be placed and rotated in a circular microfluidic channel around a driven antenna element utilizing a flow generated and controlled by a piezoelectric micropump. The reconfigurable antenna may operate at 1800 MHz with 4% bandwidth and be capable of performing beam steering over 360° with fine tuning.

主权项

1. A reconfigurable antenna comprising:
a central active element disposed on a first side of a dielectric substrate; a ground plane disposed on a second side of the dielectric substrate, wherein the second side is opposite the first side; a microfluidic channel circularly disposed on the first side of the dielectric substrate around the central active element; and one or more liquid metal parasitic elements disposed within the microfluidic channel.