Wideband end-fire antenna based on modulated grooved surface plasmon polaritons

Amitkumar Patel; Aakash Bansal; Chinthana Panagamuwa; William Whittow

doi:10.1038/s41598-025-10667-x

Wideband end-fire antenna based on modulated grooved surface plasmon polaritons

Sci Rep. 2025 Jul 11;15(1):25144. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-10667-x.

Authors

Amitkumar Patel¹, Aakash Bansal², Chinthana Panagamuwa², William Whittow²

Affiliations

¹ Wolfson School of Mechanical, Electrical and Manufacturing Engineering, Loughborough University, Loughborough, UK. a.patel2@lboro.ac.uk.
² Wolfson School of Mechanical, Electrical and Manufacturing Engineering, Loughborough University, Loughborough, UK.

PMID: 40646046
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-025-10667-x

Abstract

This article presents low-profile wideband millimeter-wave (mmWave) end-fire antenna based on groundless grooved spoof surface plasmon polaritons (SSPPs) technique for applications in 5G mmWave communications. A novel linearly modulated grooved profile has been designed and optimized to convert bounded SSPP modes into radiation modes. The proposed groundless modulated grooved profile is designed to achieve a zero tilting and highly directional beam in the end-fire direction. A semi-curvilinear ground profile and stepped impedance transition profile are designed to improve impedance matching, which simultaneously enable wide bandwidth of 22 GHz to 41 GHz, i.e., fractional bandwidth (FBW) of 62% with a peak gain of 13 dBi in a low-profile structure. The overall form-factor of the antenna is 5 [Formula: see text] × 0.9 [Formula: see text] × 0.016[Formula: see text] (where [Formula: see text] is the wavelength in free space at the center frequency). The high directivity, low-profile and lightweight structure of the antenna makes it highly suitable for applications in mmWave communications.

Grants and funding

EP/W037734/1/U.K. Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)