Carbon-Based Composite Microwave Antennas

Applications of metamaterials to microwave antennas are reviewed over the past decade. The manufacturing of microwave antennas using graphene-containing carbon composite materials was developed and prototypes of dipole and horn antennas made from such materials were created. The radiation properties of the designed antennas and their metal analogs were measured and compared. The standing wave ratios, the radiation patterns and the amplitude-frequency characteristics were analyzed for horn antennas at frequencies 1.6 GHz and 5 GHz and for dipole antennas in the frequency range 0.2–0.6 GHz. The polarization characteristics of the horn antennas were studied. The effects of different carbon composite materials’ structures (fiber or fabric) on the antennas’ parameters were estimated. It is shown that antennas made from graphene-containing composite materials are able to operate efficiently and exhibit almost the same radiation properties as conventional metal antennas of the same geometry and size. However, the carbon-based antennas have much smaller weights and enhanced stability in a wide range of temperatures. In the future, such antennas should replace the conventional ones for many applications, especially for the excitation and reception of electromagnetic waves in space plasmas.