Conformal antennas based on holographic artificial impedance surfaces

Advances in artificial impedance surface conformal antennas are presented. A detailed conical impedance modulation is proposed for the first time. By coating an artificial impedance surface on a cone, we can control the conical surface wave radiating at the desired direction. The surface impedance is constructed by printing a dense texture of sub wavelength metal patches on a grounded dielectric slab. The effective surface impedance depends on the size of the patches, and can be varied as a function of position. The final devices are conical conformal antennas with simple layout and feeding. Simulated results are presented, and better aperture efficiency and lower side lobe level are obtained than our predecessors [2].