Large-element-spacing(LES)antenna arrays present an attractive proposition with their cost-effectiveness and sim-plified structures.However,they often encounter the challenge of high-level grating lobes.This paper pro...Large-element-spacing(LES)antenna arrays present an attractive proposition with their cost-effectiveness and sim-plified structures.However,they often encounter the challenge of high-level grating lobes.This paper proposes a novel meta-lens methodology to effectively address the grating lobe issue in fixed-beam LES arrays.The proposed approach involves strategically positioning a meta-lens above the LES arrays at a suitable vertical distance.This setup enables precise manipulation and compen-sation of the near-field phase,resulting in the suppression or elimination of grating lobes without introducing additional design com-plexity.Comprehensive theoretical analyses,meticulous design calculations employing efficient numerical methods,rigorous field simulations,and practical experiments are conducted.The results demonstrate that our meta-lens solution achieves significant grating-lobe suppressions and substantial gain enhancements with only a marginal increase in system profile or volume.The proposed meta-lens approach is versatile and applicable to various LES antenna arrays,including sparse/thinned arrays,regardless of their size,element spacing,and configuration(uniform or non-uniform,periodic or aperiodic).展开更多
基金National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.62071187,62071125,and 62301162)Natural Science Foundation of Fujian Province,China(Grant No.2023J01058)+1 种基金Industry-Education Cooperation Project in Fujian Province,China(Grant No.2022H6018)Fujian Province Major Special Topic Project(Grant No.2022HZ026007).
文摘Large-element-spacing(LES)antenna arrays present an attractive proposition with their cost-effectiveness and sim-plified structures.However,they often encounter the challenge of high-level grating lobes.This paper proposes a novel meta-lens methodology to effectively address the grating lobe issue in fixed-beam LES arrays.The proposed approach involves strategically positioning a meta-lens above the LES arrays at a suitable vertical distance.This setup enables precise manipulation and compen-sation of the near-field phase,resulting in the suppression or elimination of grating lobes without introducing additional design com-plexity.Comprehensive theoretical analyses,meticulous design calculations employing efficient numerical methods,rigorous field simulations,and practical experiments are conducted.The results demonstrate that our meta-lens solution achieves significant grating-lobe suppressions and substantial gain enhancements with only a marginal increase in system profile or volume.The proposed meta-lens approach is versatile and applicable to various LES antenna arrays,including sparse/thinned arrays,regardless of their size,element spacing,and configuration(uniform or non-uniform,periodic or aperiodic).
