A Kirigami-Inspired Pattern-Reconfigurable Antenna with Switchable Omnidirectional and Unidirectional Beams

Abstract

Pattern reconfigurable antennas can provide dynamic radiation coverage, a key for managing the heavy data traffic associated with 5G communication. Kirigami, a paper cutting and folding technique, can be applied to the design of reconfigurable antennas to introduce more flexibility and simple fabrication. In this paper, a kirigami-inspired reconfigurable antenna with one omnidirectional and two unidirectional beams is presented. The proposed antenna is composed of one monopole antenna, placed at the center of a ground plane, and two foldable kirigami parabolic reflectors. The parabolic structure enhanced the peak gain of the proposed antenna by 2.08 dB compared with its origami-based counterpart with a plane reflector. The simulated −10 dB reflection coefficient bandwidth is 13.37% for the omnidirectional mode and 10.23% for the directional mode.