Open AccessSlim Luneburg lens for antenna applications
Author(s) -
Angela Demetriadou,
Yang Hao
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - Uncategorized
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.19.019925
Subject(s) - luneburg lens , directivity , optics , lens (geology) , antenna (radio) , side lobe , transformation optics , directional antenna , physics , computer science , refractive index , telecommunications , metamaterial
Luneburg lens is a marvellous optical lens but is extremely difficult to be applied in any practical antenna system due to its large spherical shape. In this paper, we propose a transformation that reduces the profile of the original Luneburg lens without affecting its unique properties. The new transformed slim lens is then discretized and simplified for a practical antenna application, where its properties were examined numerically. It is found that the transformed lens can be used to replace conventional antenna systems (i.e. Fabry-Perot resonant antennas) producing a high-directivity beam with low side-lobes. In addition, it provides excellent steering capabilities for wide angles, maintaining the directivity and side-lobes at high and low values respectively.