7054 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ANTENNAS AND PROPAGATION, VOL. 71, NO.

9, SEPTEMBER 2023

Miniaturized Multibeam Antenna With

Narrow Beam Based on Phase-Gradient Square
Loop Metasurface
Zhen Zhao , Liping Han , Xinwei Chen , Rongcao Yang , Jiao Zhang ,
and Wenmei Zhang , Senior Member, IEEE

Abstract— In this article, a new method to design multibeam circuit-based BFNs were Nolen matrix [3], Butler matrix [4],
antenna based on a phase-gradient metasurface (MS) is proposed and Blass matrix [5] formed by microwave components, such
and demonstrated through two cases of single source and as coupler and phase shifter. For example, in [4], an MBA
multisource. The basic idea is to employ the feeding source
operating in high-order TM20 (TM02 ) mode to generate split array fed by an 8 × 8 dual-layer Butler matrix was proposed
beams. Then, by loading an F–P cavity and a phase-gradient and the realized antenna had a high gain and a low sidelobe
MS, the narrow main lobe is obtained. Also, the gain is raised level (SLL). As regards len-based BFN, most typical cases
and the sidelobe level (SLL) is cut down. In addition, for the were Rotman lens [6] and Luneburg lens [7]. Based on the
single-source antenna, the impedance matching is improved and open literature, it can be found that the BFN for traditional
the gain is further enhanced by loading holes. Moreover, through
adding a parasitic unit, the SLL is dropped. For the multisource MBAs will bring about the insertion loss. With the increase
antenna, by etching slots, the isolation between four ports is of the number of elements, the complexity and cost of the
improved and the SLL is further reduced. Finally, both the feeding network would also be raised.
simulated and measured results verify the proposed method. The In recent years, MBAs based on metasurface (MS) have
realized single-source multibeam antenna operates in the range received extensive attention [8], [9], [10], [11], [12], [13].
of 9.74–10.62 GHz and has a lower SLL of 21.28 dB. Four beams
point to (θ , φ) = (57◦ , 0◦ ), (57◦ , 90◦ ), (57◦ , 180◦ ), and (57◦ , 270◦ ). As a new type of structure, MS can flexibly and effectively
For the multisource case, the antenna has a gain of 11.26 dBi, the manipulate the phase, polarization, and propagation modes of
isolation better than 20.52 dB, and the SLL of 12.16 dB. Also, electromagnetic waves. Therefore, it can be used to control the
the four main beams are steered to (θ , φ) = (12◦ , 2◦ ), (12◦ , 92◦ ), beam of antenna. For instance, single-source and multisource
(12◦ , 182◦ ), and (12◦ , 272◦ ). MBAs employing MS were proposed in [8]. For the case
Index Terms— Beamforming, holes, multibeam antenna, of single source, the aperture formed by MS was divided
parasitic unit, phase-gradient metasurface (MS), slots. into several groups so that the antenna could simultaneously
generate multiple beams in different directions. With regard
I. I NTRODUCTION to the multisource case, independent beams were realized by

W ITH the rapid development of wireless communication

industry, multibeam antennas (MBAs) have become the
key to improving the system capacity and spectrum efficiency
exciting different ports. The realized antenna got a narrow
beam in large dimensions of 12λ0 × 12λ0 . These antennas
had multifocal reflectors/lens and would also lead to a bulky
in the 5G communication system. Also, they can provide system.
an effective method to reduce the impact of the co-channel In order to reduce the energy loss and dimensions of
interference and offer a higher transmission rate [1], [2]. antenna, MBAs without BFN have also been noticed [14],
Traditional MBAs were fed by beamforming network [15], [16], [17], [18], [19], [20], [21]. In [15], an MBA
(BFN). Conventionally, BNF can be divided into two types, based on parasitic patches and shorting vias was proposed.
i.e., circuit- and len-based BFNs. The most commonly used The impedance characteristic and gain of the antenna were
improved by etching slots on parasitic patches. In [20]
Manuscript received 7 October 2022; revised 27 February 2023;
accepted 25 May 2023. Date of publication 26 July 2023; date of current and [21], a low-cost and low-profile switched beam-steering
version 6 September 2023. This work was supported in part by the National grid-array antenna (GAA) was proposed. By switching feeding
Science Foundation of China under Grant 62071282 and Grant 61775126, ports of the GAA, the beam with a high gain could be
in part by the Excellent Achievement Cultivation Project for Universities in
Shanxi Province under Grant 2019KJ001, in part by the National Science controlled electronically in different directions. These antennas
Foundation of Shanxi of Province under Grant 201901D111025, and in part by had compact sizes and low profiles, but large HPBW and low
the Shanxi “1331 Project” Key Subjects Construction under Grant 1331KSC. gain in per unit wavelength area.
(Corresponding author: Wenmei Zhang.)
The authors are with the School of Physics and Electronic Engi- In this article, single-source and multisource MBAs based
neering, Shanxi University, Taiyuan, Shanxi 030006, China (e-mail: on the phase-gradient MS are proposed. By introducing the
[email protected]). MS, a narrow beam and a high gain are obtained in a
Color versions of one or more figures in this article are available at
https://doi.org/10.1109/TAP.2023.3285297. small area. In addition, for the single-source MBA, inner and
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TAP.2023.3285297 outer holes connecting the ground plane and square patch
0018-926X © 2023 IEEE. Personal use is permitted, but republication/redistribution requires IEEE permission.
See https://www.ieee.org/publications/rights/index.html for more information.

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ZHAO et al.: MINIATURIZED MULTIBEAM ANTENNA WITH NARROW BEAM 7055

TABLE I
D IMENSIONS OF THE S INGLE -S OURCE A NTENNA (U NIT: mm)

Fig. 2. Reflection phases of the MS unit.

the upper side of sub 3. Square-loop patches have the same

outer side lengths of a (0.73λg ) and different inner ones of b0 ,
b1 , b2 , b3 , and b4 . In order to distinguish easily, five kinds of
units of MS are marked by different methods. Subs 1–3 are
all FR4 with a relative permittivity of 4.4 and a loss tangent
of 0.02. The designed antenna operates at 10 GHz and the
optimized dimensions are summarized in Table I. The overall
dimensions of the antenna are 135 × 135 × 19.8 mm, equal
to 4.5λ0 × 4.5λ0 × 0.66λ0 (λ0 is the free-space wavelength
at 10 GHz).
Fig. 1. Structure of the single-source MBA. (a) Side view. (b) Feeding
source. (c) MS.
A. Characteristic of MS Unit and Design of Air Cavity
are arranged in the feeding source, so the gain is improved. The MS unit is simulated with the help of HFSS and its
Meanwhile, by employing a parasitic unit, the SLL is reduced. reflection phases are shown in Fig. 2. It can be found that
With regard to the multisource MBA, through etching slots phases vary in the range of 145◦ –180◦ . With the increase of
in the central and parasitic patches, similar improvements in inner diameters of square loop, reflection phases decrease.
radiation performance have been observed. Also, the isolation After obtaining reflection phases, the height h c of the air
is lowered. cavity can be determined according to the resonant condition
This article is organized as follows. In Sections II and III, and can be expressed as
the design concept, theory, and radiation characteristics of
λ λ
the proposed antennas are revealed in detail. In Section IV, hc = (φMS + φg ) ± N , (N = 0, 1, 2, . . .) (1)
simulated and measured results are presented to validate the 4π 2
effectiveness of the method. Finally, the conclusion is drawn where φMS and φg represent reflection phases of the MS unit
in Section V. and the ground plane, respectively, λ is the wavelength in free
space, and N is an integer and generally is taken as 0.
II. D ESIGN OF S INGLE -S OURCE MBA It is known that the phases of five units are around 156◦ ,
164◦ , 171◦ , 175◦ , and 178◦ at 10 GHz. Then, h c of the air
Fig. 1 shows the geometry of the proposed single-source
cavity can be calculated as 14.0, 14.4, 14.6, 14.8, and 15 mm.
MBA. It consists of a feeding source, a parasitic unit, and an
After optimization, it is selected as 16.6 mm.
MS separated by an air layer. The feeding source is printed
on sub 1 as shown in Fig. 1(b) and it includes a ground plane
and a square patch connected through inner and outer holes. B. Contribution of MS
The parasitic unit is composed of sub 2 and a parasitic patch. The MS is the key to realizing the narrow beam and low
The MS consisting of 9 × 9 square-loop patches is etched on SLL. In this section, we reveal its contribution by comparing

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7056 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ANTENNAS AND PROPAGATION, VOL. 71, NO. 9, SEPTEMBER 2023

Fig. 5. Effect of holes on antenna S11 .

Fig. 3. Three-dimensional patterns of the antenna with different structures

at 10 GHz. (a) With only the square patch and the ground plane. (b) Adding
all holes and parasitic unit. (c) Covering the uniform MS. (d) Covering the
phase-gradient MS.

Fig. 6. Current distributions of the antenna with and without holes.

(a) Without holes. (b) With inner holes. (c) With inner and outer holes.

Fig. 4. Effect of MS on the gain pattern in the φ = 0◦ plane at 10 GHz.

the radiation patterns in four different cases, as shown in

Figs. 3 and 4. When there is only the square patch, sub 1, and
the ground plane, the antenna works in TM20 and TM02 modes
so that the beam is split into four parts. As a result, the butterfly
radiation pattern is observed in Fig. 3(a) and the gain of the
antenna is only 2.13 dBi. After adding all holes and parasitic
unit, the main beam pointing to θ = 55◦ has a gain of 4.28 dBi
and HPBW of 55◦ . Also, a large SLL appears at θ = 15◦ .
When the uniform square-loop MS is arranged, the HPBW is
reduced to 18◦ and the SLL at θ = 15◦ falls to −9.14 dB.
The gain of the antenna also reaches 7.12 dBi. In order to
further improve the radiation performance, the uniform MS is
replaced by a phase-gradient MS. As a result, the backward
radiation around θ = 100◦ is decreased, and the maximum
SLL in the proximity of θ = 15◦ decreases to −17.84 dB.
Also, the main beams directing to (θ, φ) = (57◦ , 0◦ ), (57◦ , Fig. 7. Three-dimensional patterns of the antenna with and without holes
90◦ ), (57◦ , 180◦ ), and (57◦ , 270◦ ) have a gain of 8.06 dBi. at 10 GHz. (a) Without holes. (b) With inner holes. (c) With inner and outer
holes.

C. Effect of Holes bandwidth and the gain, and the corresponding results are
Inner and outer holes connecting the ground plane and the shown in Figs. 5–7. Before holes are arranged, the antenna
square patch have a significant influence on the impedance only has a narrow bandwidth of around 9.6 GHz. Weak

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ZHAO et al.: MINIATURIZED MULTIBEAM ANTENNA WITH NARROW BEAM 7057

Fig. 9. Effect of r1 on S11 .

Fig. 8. Gain pattern of the antenna with and without the parasitic unit in
the φ = 0◦ plane.

currents distribute in the square patch uniformly and there are

slightly larger currents in the direction of ±45◦ , as observed
in Fig. 6(a). The gain of the antenna in Fig. 7 is only
3.36 dBi. When loading inner holes, two narrow bands
around 9.8 and 10.6 GHz are observed and currents are
strengthened along the x- and y-axes. As a result, the
gain can reach 6.04 dBi. Finally, after outer holes are
arranged, good impedance matching is achieved from 9.74 to
10.62 GHz. Consequently, currents on the entire square
patch are enhanced, as shown in Fig. 6(c). At the same Fig. 10. Gain pattern in the φ = 0◦ plane at 10 GHz for different h c .
time, the antenna produces large currents concentrated at
φ = 0◦ /90◦ /180◦ /270◦ . The gain of the antenna runs up to TABLE II
8.06 dBi. R ADIATION C HARACTERISTICS FOR D IFFERENT h c VALUES

D. Effect of Parasitic Unit

In order to reduce the SLL and improve the radiation
performance, a parasitic unit is added between the phase-
gradient MS and the feeding source. Fig. 8 shows the gain
pattern with and without the parasitic unit at 10 GHz. It can
be found after the parasitic unit is arranged, the gain increases
from 7.01 to 8.06 dBi and the SLL around θ = 0◦ decreases
from −5.3 to −13.22 dB, that is, the gain is improved and the 6.14 dBi, respectively. When h c = 16.6 mm, the gain of
SLL is suppressed. main lobe reaches 8.06 dBi and the first SLL is reduced
to −12.59 dB. As h c increases to 17.6 mm, the gain of
E. Parameter Analysis the antenna drops to 7.67 dBi. Therefore, in order to obtain
an antenna with higher gain, less HPBW, and lower SLL,
In addition, the performance of the antenna is optimized
h c = 16.6 mm is chosen.
using the HFSS and it is found that the radius r1 of holes and
the air-layer height h c also have a greater effect on the antenna
performance. III. D ESIGN OF M ULTISOURCE MBA
r1 mainly affects the impedance match, as shown in Fig. 9. Fig. 11 shows the geometry of the proposed multisource
When r1 = 0.4 mm, the antenna has a narrow bandwidth in MBA. It is comprised of the feeding source and the MS
the 9.7-GHz band. In the case of r1 = 0.8 and 1.6 mm, the separated by an air layer with a height of h 1 . The used
antenna has two separate operating bandwidths. Therefore, substrate is FR4 with a relative permittivity of 4.4 and a loss
r1 = 1.2 mm is finally selected. In this case, the −10-dB tangent of 0.02. The feeding source printed on two sides of
impedance bandwidth is from 9.74 to 10.62 GHz (0.88 GHz). sub 1 consists of a patch layer [shown in Fig. 11(b)] and the
The height of the air cavity h c primarily has an influence ground plane. In the center of the patch layer, a square patch
on the gain pattern, as shown in Fig. 10, and some specific with four rectangular slots and a cross-shaped slot is arranged.
radiation properties are given in Table II. In the case of Around the central patch, four parasitic patches with U-shaped
h c = 14.6 and 15.6 mm, gains of the antenna are 4.38 and slots are placed separately. The MS with 9 × 9 square-loop

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7058 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ANTENNAS AND PROPAGATION, VOL. 71, NO. 9, SEPTEMBER 2023

TABLE III
D IMENSIONS OF THE M ULTISOURCE A NTENNA (U NIT: mm)

Fig. 12. Three-dimensional patterns of the antenna with different structures

at 15 GHz. (a) With only central and parasitic patches. (b) Etching slots in
patches. (c) Loading uniform MS. (d) Arranging phase-gradient MS.

Fig. 11. Structure of the multisource MBA. (a) Side view. (b) Feeding source.
(c) MS.

patches is etched on the upper side of sub 2, as shown in

Fig. 11(c). Square-loop patches have the same inner side
lengths of b and different outer ones of a0 , a1 , a2 , a3 , and a4 .
In order to identify easily, they are filled in different styles.
An antenna operating at 15 GHz is designed and the detailed
dimensions of the antenna are given in Table III. The designed
antenna has dimensions of 80 × 80 × 18.2 mm, equal
to 2.6λ0 × 2.6λ0 × 0.61λ0 (λ0 is the free-space wavelength
at 15 GHz).

A. Contribution of MS Fig. 13. Gain pattern in the φ = 0◦ plane at 15 GHz.

In this section, port 1 [shown in Fig. 11(b)] is taken as

an example to investigate the contribution of MS and the after slots in patches are etched, currents flowing to other ports
corresponding 3-D radiation patterns are shown in Fig. 12. are reduced largely. Therefore, a broadside radiation pattern
To observe details, pattern cuts in the planes of φ = 0◦ and [shown in Fig. 12(b)] without tilting on one side is observed.
134◦ are also offered in Figs. 13 and 14. First, for the antenna When the uniform MS is arranged, the gain of antenna rises
with only central and parasitic patches, it works in the TM02 to 8.45 dBi and the main beam deflects to (θ, φ) = (−16◦ ,
mode and has two split beams pointing to θ = −17◦ and 12◦ . 182◦ ). Furthermore, two sidelobes can be observed around
The maximum gain of the antenna is only 2.78 dBi. Then, (θ, φ) = (10◦ , 0◦ ) and (32◦ , 134◦ ), and they have levels

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ZHAO et al.: MINIATURIZED MULTIBEAM ANTENNA WITH NARROW BEAM 7059

Fig. 16. Gain pattern in the φ = 0◦ plane for loading different slots.

Fig. 14. Gain pattern in the φ = 134◦ plane at 15 GHz.

wavelength. According to (2), the calculated deflection angle
is 10◦ , which is close to the simulated value of 12◦ .

C. Effect of Slots
Then, the contribution of slots in patches of the feeding
source will be studied in this section. Fig. 16 shows the gain
pattern in the φ = 0◦ plane at 15 GHz. For the antenna without
slots, the main beam of 3.84 dBi is directed at θ = 11◦ , and the
SLL at θ = −15◦ reaches 3.26 dB. When a cross-shaped slot
and four rectangular slots are etched in the central patch, the
main beam is directed at θ = −13◦ and the peak gain reaches
Fig. 15. Phase distribution of the MS.
8.98 dBi. Also, the SLL in the direction of θ = 11◦ drops
TABLE IV to 0.67 dB. Furthermore, when U-shaped slots in parasitic
P HASE OF MS (U NIT: mm) patches are loaded around four ports, the proposed MBA
obtains a higher gain of 10.97 dBi. Therefore, by loading the
cross-shaped slot and U-shaped slots, beamforming is realized
and the gain of antenna is improved.
The improvement mechanism of slots on radiation perfor-
mance can be discussed by analyzing current distributions
at 15 GHz, as shown in Fig. 17. Before slots are etched,
large currents distribute in the central and the parasitic patches.
of 2.1 and −1.47 dB, respectively. In order to improve the
As slots in the central patch are etched, currents in this part
radiation performance and suppress the SLL, the uniform MS
are weakened. After U-shaped slots in the parasitic patches are
is evolved as a phase-gradient MS. In this case, the antenna
further introduced, they diminish. As a result, the gain for main
has a gain of 10.97 dBi and an HPBW of 18◦ . Also, levels of
beam is improved and the SLL is reduced. In addition, it is
two sidelobes are reduced to −3.41 and −6.1 dB, and the
worth noting that currents flowing to ports 2–4 from port 1 are
corresponding SLLs relative to peak level are −14.38 and
also reduced accordingly, as shown in Fig. 17(c). As a result,
−17.07 dB, respectively.
better isolation between ports is achieved (the corresponding
results can be noticed in measured results in Section IV-B).
B. Theory of Beam Deflection
To further study the radiation mechanism of the MS, Fig. 15 D. Parameter Analysis
presents the phase distribution of MS when port 1 is excited The performance of the antenna is optimized using the
at 15 GHz. It can be seen that units of MS are excited in turn HFSS and it is found that the side length w1 of parasitic patch,
with different time delays and specific phases of each unit the gap p1 of the MS unit, and the air-layer height h 1 also have
are provided in Table IV. Through the average phase delay a greater effect on radiation performance.
1ϕ of all units, we can obtain the theoretical beam deflection The side length w1 of the parasitic patches mainly influences
angle θ as the gain pattern, as shown in Fig. 18. When w1 = 22 mm,
the gain of the antenna is only 6.77 dBi. In the case
λg 1ϕ
sin θ = (2) of w1 = 25 and 28 mm, the gains of main lobe can
2π p reach 9.68 and 10.97 dBi, and the SLLs are dropped to
where 1ϕ is the average phase delay from element −4 to 0.46 and 0.02 dB, respectively. Continuing to increase w1 to
element 4 and θ is the deflection angle of beam. The period 31 mm, the gain of the antenna drops to 8.86 dBi. Therefore,
of the MS unit is p = 7 mm, and λg represents the guided w1 = 28 mm is finally chosen.

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7060 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ANTENNAS AND PROPAGATION, VOL. 71, NO. 9, SEPTEMBER 2023

Fig. 20. Gain pattern in φ = 0◦ plane at 15 GHz for different h 1 values.

Fig. 17. Current distributions for loading different slots. (a) Without slots.
(b) With rectangular slots and cross-shaped slot. (c) With U-shaped slots.

Fig. 21. Four beams of antenna. (a) Port 1. (b) Port 2. (c) Port 3. (d) Port 4.

In addition, the height of the air layer also has a great

influence on the radiation performance of the antenna,
Fig. 18. Gain pattern in the φ = 0◦ plane at 15 GHz for different w1 values.
as shown in Fig. 20. When h 1 = 13 mm, the antenna has
a maximum gain of 3.62 dBi. In the case of h 1 = 14 mm,
the gain can reach 8.82 dBi and the beam points to
(θ, φ) = (−4◦ , 182◦ ). With h 1 increasing to 16 mm, the
SLL increases to 3.24 dB. Therefore, h 1 = 15 mm is finally
selected. In this case, the gain of antenna reaches 10.97 dBi,
and the SLL is 0.02 dB.

E. Radiation Patterns
When ports 1–4 are excited separately, the antenna generates
four different beams, as shown in Fig. 21. It can be seen that
four beams point to (θ, φ) = (12◦ , 2◦ ), (12◦ , 92◦ ), (12◦ , 182◦ ),
Fig. 19. Gain pattern in the φ = 0◦ plane at 15 GHz for different p1 values. and (12◦ , 272◦ ).

IV. S IMULATED AND M EASURED R ESULTS

The gap p1 of the MS unit is a major factor influencing the
To verify the design method, single-source and multisource
gain of the antenna, as shown in Fig. 19. It is observed that
antennas are fabricated and measured. Here, they are measured
when p1 = 0.5 and 2 mm, low gains of 6.30 and 8.15 dBi
using an Agilent N5230A vector network analyzer.
are observed. In the case of p1 = 1 mm, the antenna has a
gain of 10.97 dBi and an HPBW of 18◦ . As p1 increases to
1.5 mm, the HPBW has a slight increase and the gain decreases A. Single-Source MBA
to 9.12 dBi. Therefore, to obtain a narrow beam with higher Fig. 22 shows the photographs of the fabricated single-
gain, p1 is chosen as 1 mm. source MBA and the corresponding results are shown in

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ZHAO et al.: MINIATURIZED MULTIBEAM ANTENNA WITH NARROW BEAM 7061

Fig. 24. Simulated and measured gain.

Fig. 22. Photographs of the fabricated single-source MBA. (a) Top view of
the feeding source. (b) Bottom view of the feeding source. (c) Parasitic unit. Fig. 25. Gain patterns of the antenna. (a) φ = 0◦ . (b) φ = 90◦ .
(d) MS.

Fig. 23. Simulated and measured S-parameters.

Figs. 23–25. Fig. 23 shows the simulated and measured

S-parameters. It can be seen that the simulated −10-dB
impedance bandwidth is in the range of 9.74–10.62 GHz
(0.88 GHz), and the measured result is from 9.7 to 10.6 GHz.
Fig. 24 shows the gain of the proposed antenna. It can be
found that the simulated gain changes from 2.85 to 8.06 dBi
and the maximum appears at 10.18 GHz. The measured result
shows a maximum gain of 7.54 dBi at 10.2 GHz, which is
lower than the simulated one.
Fig. 25 shows the gain patterns of the antenna at 10 GHz.
As can be seen, four measured main beams have the Fig. 26. Photographs of the fabricated multisource MBA. (a) Top view of
HPBW of 18◦ and point to (θ , φ) = (55◦ , 0◦ ), (55◦ , 90◦ ), the feeding source. (b) Bottom view of the feeding source. (c) MS.
(−56◦ , 0◦ ), and (−56◦ , 90◦ ), agreeing with the simulated
results. The simulated SLL is −13.02 dB around θ = 0◦ , Figs. 27 and 28 show the simulated and measured
but the measured result increases a little. In addition, cross- S-parameters, respectively. Considering the symmetry, only
polarization levels are lower than −27.08 dB. isolation of port 1 is given. It can be seen that the simulated
impedance bandwidth ranges from 14.7 to 15.17 GHz
B. Multisource MBA (0.47 GHz). The measured results of four ports are in
Photographs of the fabricated multisource MBA are given the ranges of 14.55–14.98, 14.54–14.95, 14.55–14.98, and
in Fig. 26 and the measured results are shown in Figs. 27–29. 14.58–15 GHz. The resonant frequency is shifted down

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7062 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ANTENNAS AND PROPAGATION, VOL. 71, NO. 9, SEPTEMBER 2023

TABLE VI
C OMPARISON OF THE S INGLE -S OURCE MBA
W ITH P REVIOUSLY R EPORTED MBA S

Fig. 27. Simulated and measured reflection coefficient.

TABLE VII
C OMPARISON OF THE M ULTISOURCE MBA W ITH
P REVIOUSLY R EPORTED MBA S

Fig. 28. Simulated and measured isolations.

simulated results of (θ , φ) = (12◦ , 2◦ ), (12◦ , 92◦ ), (12◦ , 182◦ ),

and (12◦ , 272◦ ). The corresponding SLLs relative to peak level
of four ports are −10.53, −12.16, −11.25, and −10.2 dB.
In addition, the measured peak gain is 10.52 dBi, which is
less than the simulated one. Cross-polarization levels of the
Fig. 29. Gain patterns of the antenna at 15 GHz. (a) φ = 0◦ . (b) φ = 90◦ .
antenna are all less than −20 dB.
TABLE V In order to explain the advantages of the proposed MBAs,
R ADIATION P ROPERTIES OF THE A NTENNA Tables VI and VII show comparisons with previously reported
MBAs. The proposed single-source and multisource MBAs
obtain the narrowest beam in the minimum dimension and
larger gain in per unit wavelength area. Also, for the
multisource MBA, the best isolation is observed.

V. C ONCLUSION
In this article, a design method of miniaturized MBA
based on a phase-gradient MS is presented. By exciting
the feeding source operating in high-order TM20 (TM02)
compared with the simulated one. Meanwhile, measured mode, multibeams are produced. With the help of the phase-
isolations are all better than 19.71 dB, lower than the gradient MS and the FP cavity, the HPBW of beams is
simulated 20.52 dB. reduced. Also, the feeding source assists to improve the
Fig. 29 shows the simulated and measured gain patterns of impedance characteristics and radiation performance of the
the proposed multisource MBA, and details of the four beams antenna. The measured results verify the effectiveness of
are given in Table V. When four ports are excited separately, the design method in single-source and multisource cases.
four measured beams point to (θ, φ) = (13◦ , 2◦ ), (13◦ , 92◦ ), This approach can be applied to point-to-point and point-
(13◦ , 182◦ ), and (13◦ , 272◦ ), which are consistent with the to-multipoint wireless communication, providing a feasible

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ZHAO et al.: MINIATURIZED MULTIBEAM ANTENNA WITH NARROW BEAM 7063

idea for future applications. Moreover, the antenna design has [21] Nasimuddin and X. Qing, “Switchable beam steering antenna for
potential in a lot of MIMO scenarios. Ka-band airborne applications,” in Proc. IEEE Int. Conf. Comput.
Electromagn. (ICCEM), Singapore, Aug. 2020, pp. 201–202.

R EFERENCES Zhen Zhao was born in Lüliang, China, in 1996.

She received the B.S. degree in electronic informa-
[1] Y. Fan et al., “Low-RCS multi-beam metasurface-inspired antenna based tion science and technology from Datong Shanxi
on Pancharatnam–Berry phase,” IEEE Trans. Antennas Propag., vol. 68, University, Datong, China, in 2018. She is currently
no. 3, pp. 1899–1906, Mar. 2020. pursuing the M.S. degree with Shanxi University,
[2] T. Hongnara, S. Chaimool, P. Akkaraekthalin, and Y. Zhao, “Design of Taiyuan, China.
compact beam-steering antennas using a metasurface formed by uniform Her current research interests include multibeam
square rings,” IEEE Access, vol. 6, pp. 9420–9429, 2018. antenna based on metasurface.
[3] A. Ali, F. Coccetti, H. Aubert, and N. J. G. Fonseca, “Novel multi-
layer SIW broadband coupler for Nolen matrix design in Ku band,” in
Proc. IEEE Antennas Propag. Soc. Int. Symp., San Diego, CA, USA,
Jul. 2008, pp. 1–4. Liping Han was born in Shanxi, Shuozhou, China,
[4] L.-H. Zhong, Y.-L. Ban, J.-W. Lian, Q.-L. Yang, J. Guo, and in 1970. She received the B.S., M.S., and Ph.D.
Z.-F. Yu, “Miniaturized SIW multibeam antenna array fed by dual-layer degrees in electronic engineering from Shanxi
8 × 8 Butler matrix,” IEEE Antennas Wireless Propag. Lett., vol. 16, University, Taiyuan, China, in 1993, 2002, and 2011,
pp. 3018–3021, 2017. respectively.
[5] C. Tsokos et al., “Analysis of a multibeam optical beamforming network She is currently an Associate Professor with the
based on Blass matrix architecture,” J. Lightw. Technol., vol. 36, no. 16, College of Physics and Electronics, Shanxi Univer-
pp. 3354–3372, Aug. 15, 2018. sity. Her research interests include microwave and
[6] J.-W. Lian, Y.-L. Ban, H. Zhu, and Y. J. Guo, “Reduced-sidelobe millimeter-wave integrated circuits and microstrip
multibeam array antenna based on SIW Rotman lens,” IEEE Antennas antennas.
Wireless Propag. Lett., vol. 19, no. 1, pp. 188–192, Jan. 2020.
[7] M. Liang, W.-R. Ng, K. Chang, K. Gbele, M. E. Gehm, and
H. Xin, “A 3-D Luneburg lens antenna fabricated by polymer jetting Xinwei Chen was born in Fenyang, Shanxi, China,
rapid prototyping,” IEEE Trans. Antennas Propag., vol. 62, no. 4, in 1978. He received the B.S. and Ph.D. degrees
pp. 1799–1807, Apr. 2014. in electronic engineering from Shanxi University,
[8] D. González-Ovejero, G. Minatti, G. Chattopadhyay, and S. Maci, Taiyuan, China, in 2002 and 2013, respectively.
“Multibeam by metasurface antennas,” IEEE Trans. Antennas Propag., He is currently an Associate Professor with the
vol. 65, no. 6, pp. 2923–2930, Jun. 2017. College of Physics and Electronic Engineering,
[9] P. Nayeri, F. Yang, and A. Z. Elsherbeni, “Single-feed multi-beam Shanxi University. His research interests include
reflectarray antennas,” in Proc. IEEE Antennas Propag. Soc. Int. Symp., microwave and millimeter-wave integrated circuits,
Toronto, ON, Canada, Jul. 2010, pp. 1–4. EMC, and microstrip antennas.
[10] L. Bao et al., “Multi-beam forming and controls by metasurface with
phase and amplitude modulations,” IEEE Trans. Antennas Propag.,
vol. 67, no. 10, pp. 6680–6685, Oct. 2019.
[11] H. Wang et al., “Multi-beam metasurface antenna by combining phase Rongcao Yang was born in Yuncheng, China,
gradients and coding sequences,” IEEE Access, vol. 7, pp. 62087–62094, in 1970. She received the B.S. and M.S. degrees
2019. in electronics and information technology and
the Ph.D. degree in optics from Shanxi Univer-
[12] L. Zhang, H. T. Wu, and T. J. Cui, “A low-RCS and high-gain partially
sity, Taiyuan, China, in 1995, 1997, and 2005,
reflecting surface antenna based on coding metasurface,” in Proc. 6th
respectively.
Asia–Pacific Conf. Antennas Propag. (APCAP), Xi’an, China, Oct. 2017,
She is currently a Professor with the College
pp. 1–3.
of Physics and Electronics, Shanxi University. Her
[13] L. Li, H. Shi, W. Li, J. Li, A. Zhang, and W. Li, “Main beam angle current research interests include electromagnetic
control microstrip antenna based on phase gradient metasurface,” in metamaterials, nanophotonic devices, and optical
Proc. 11th Int. Symp. Antennas, Propag. EM Theory (ISAPE), Guilin, communications.
China, Oct. 2016, pp. 1–4.
[14] A. N’Gom, A. Diallo, J. M. Ribero, and A. C. Beye, “Design of an
adaptive subarray antenna for multibeams wireless small cell backhaul in Jiao Zhang received the Ph.D. degree from
mmWave,” in Proc. IEEE Conf. Antenna Meas. Appl. (CAMA), Vsteras, the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences,
Sweden, Sep. 2018, pp. 1–4. Beijing, China, and Universite Paris-Sud of Paris,
[15] Z. Zhang, W. Zhang, Y. Liu, R. Ma, and L. Han, “Low-profile France, in 2017.
beamforming-network-avoiding multi-beam antenna based on parasitic She is currently a Lecturer with the School of
patch and shorting-pin,” IEEE Access, vol. 8, pp. 14749–14755, 2020. Physics and Electronic Engineering, Shanxi Univer-
[16] T. Fukusako, N. Imaizumi, and R. Kuse, “An low-profile 4-multibeam sity, Taiyuan, China. Her current research interests
antenna radiating parallel to ground plane,” in Proc. Int. Workshop include array signal processing and communication
Antenna Technol. (iWAT), Nanjing, China, Mar. 2018, pp. 1–2. signal processing.
[17] W. Zhang, A. Pal, A. Mehta, D. Mirshekar-Syahkal, and H. Nakano,
“Low profile pattern-switchable multibeam antenna consisting of four
L-shaped microstrip lines,” IET Microw., Antennas Propag., vol. 12, Wenmei Zhang (Senior Member, IEEE) was born
no. 11, pp. 1846–1851, Sep. 2018. in 1969. She received the B.S. and M.S. degrees in
[18] J. Zhang, L. Han, X. Chen, R. Yang, and W. Zhang, “Multi-beam patch electronic engineering from the Nanjing University
antenna based on metasurface,” IEEE Access, vol. 8, pp. 37281–37286, of Science and Technology, Nanjing, China, in
2020. 1992 and 1995, respectively, and the Ph.D. degree
[19] Z. Zhao and W. Zhang, “Multi-beam antenna based on annular slot and in electronic engineering from Shanghai Jiao Tong
uneven metasurface,” Int. J. RF Microw. Comput.-Aided Eng., vol. 31, University, Shanghai, China, in 2004.
no. 11, Nov. 2021, Art. no. e22814. She is currently a Professor with the School
[20] Nasimuddin, Y. Zhou, and X. Qing, “Switched beam steering antenna of Physical and Electronic Engineering, Shanxi
system at Ka-band,” in Proc. IEEE Int. Symp. Antennas Propag. University, Taiyuan, China. Her research interests
USNC-URSI Radio Sci. Meeting (APS/URSI), Singapore, Dec. 2021, include microwave and millimeter-wave integrated
pp. 563–564. circuits, EMC, and microstrip antennas.

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