3D Printable Lightweight Porous Superstrate for Improved Radiation Performance of Antenna

Abstract

The paper presents a 3D printable porous superstrate (PS) to enhance directive radiation performance of low to medium gain antennas. The PS design process is based on the theory of near-field phase correction. Transmission phase through PS is locally varied by changing sizes of perforations in different sections of the PS. The PS is designed for a resonant cavity antenna (RCA) using acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) filament. With PS the RCA aperture phase is relatively planar and its directivity in boresight direction is increased by 7.2 dB (14.8 dB to 22 dB) along with 8.2 dB reduction in side-lobe levels (SLL) and 31% increase in aperture efficiency.