Metasurface-based THz reflectarray antenna with vortex multiplexing and beam-steering capabilities for future wireless communications

Ali Ali; Mohsen Khalily; Tim Brown; Rahim Tafazolli

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2022.104725

Metasurface-based THz reflectarray antenna with vortex multiplexing and beam-steering capabilities for future wireless communications

iScience. 2022 Jul 2;25(8):104725. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.104725. eCollection 2022 Aug 19.

Authors

Ali Ali¹, Mohsen Khalily¹, Tim Brown¹, Rahim Tafazolli¹

Affiliation

¹ Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, 5G & 6G Innovation Centres (5GIC & 6GIC), Institute for Communication Systems (ICS), University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH, UK.

Abstract

This article investigates the unexplored potentials of vortices or orbital angular momentum (OAM) beams using the low-cost and high-gain dielectric reflectarray antennas (RAs) at the terahertz (THz) band. It proposes a paradigm to enable 3D beam-steering or OAM multiplexing by a single structure via tilted OAM beams. That, in turn, requires reaching the maximal attainable angles either to send multiple beams to different receivers or to focus the OAM beams of different modes in a desired direction. For this reason, two concepts are addressed in this work: (i). generating a single 3D steered OAM beam and (ii) producing multiple off-centered OAM beams with different modes. A volumetric unit cell is adopted to be accurately tuned through the aperture to steer the generated beams towards the desired direction(s). The proposed paradigm can be utilized to produce RAs with beam-steering or OAM multiplexing capabilities as candidates for THz indoor communications.

Keywords: Antennas; Metamaterials; Optical materials.