20 GHz-23 GHz Antenna with Tri-State Output Beam-Steering using Fluidic Lens

A fluidically reconfigurable lensed antenna is reported that covers 20 GHz to 23 GHz. The antenna is a modified antipodal Vivaldi antenna element with a fluidically-loaded dielectric lens to facilitate single-element beam-steering for three discrete beam-steering states. The fluid used in this work is ethyl acetate (C
₄
H
₈
O
₂
) with ε
_r
=6.0+j0.059, tanδ = 0.35 at 2.4 GHz. The antenna element and lens are fabricated using a substrate with ε
_r
=3.55 and tanδ = 0.0027. Experimental results show that the antenna can produce up to 30° of beam-steering across the band.