Using a 3D metamaterial to enhance surface wave propagation in HF band

This paper deals with the characterization of a 3D metamaterial structure to enhance the surface wave radiation of transmission antennas used with HF surface wave radars. The innovation is to use a corrugated surface with a negative effective permittivity to launch surface waves. In order to verify the predicted behaviour of this metamaterial antenna, near-field measurements were carried out at scale 1:100 in UHF band and scale 1:1 in HF band. Measurements at 1 GHz were performed on a small scale mock-up in a semi-anechoic chamber. The HF characterization was carried out outdoors thanks to an on-board measuring system on a Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) specially developed for this testing. The results are presented and allow to confirm the expected radiation of the system.