A frequency-diverse bunching metamaterial antenna for coincidence imaging in the Ka band is proposed in this paper. The bunching metamaterial antenna includes a broadband circular array and a frequency-diverse bunching metalens. Firstly, in order to enhance the bunching characteristic, the broadband circular array is designed based on the 60-degree beamwidth design to generate radiation patterns from 32 GHz to 36 GHz. Then, types of metamaterial elements with different transmission phases are selected to form the frequency-diverse bunching metalens based on a random distribution design and gradient zoom coefficient design. Moreover, the bunching metamaterial antenna is constituted by loading the frequency-diverse bunching metalens to the broadband circular array, which can generate frequency-diverse bunching random radiation patterns with beamwidth less than 100 degrees from 32 GHz to 36 GHz. Furthermore, the performances of the bunching metamaterial antenna, including the reflection coefficient, the radiation efficiency, and the correlation coefficients of radiation patterns at different frequencies are evaluated. Finally, the coincidence imaging experiment is implemented using the bunching metamaterial antenna and the image of the target is reconstructed successfully. The design is verified by simulations and measurements.
Keywords: bunching; coincidence imaging; frequency-diverse; metamaterial.