A Liquid-Metal Polarization-Pattern-Reconfigurable Dipole Antenna

An electrically actuated reconfigurable liquid-metal dipole antenna is presented. Using electrocapillary actuation, a 5 VDC signal can actuate the liquid metal Galinstan into five discrete states with varying polarizations and null directions. Local surface-energy wells built into the polyimide fixture encasing the fluids enable metastable locking of the Galinstan, eliminating the need for a continuous dc bias voltage to maintain each state.