Applications of Near-Field Meta-Steering Antenna Systems

The near-field meta-steering (NFMS) method, a beam-steering technique using pair of near-field metasurfaces, has several unique attributes, including planar profile, lack of active components, and high efficiency. The NFMS uses a thin planar high-gain antenna and stacked pair of near-field metasurfaces that are rotated around the antenna aperture with a pair of stepping motors to steer the beam in a large conical region. The NFMS systems are suitable for a broad spectrum of applications, including communication-on-the-move in providing data connectivity in remote places and moving platforms such as trains, buses, ambulances, and fire trucks. Some specialized all-metal metasurfaces are designed to make the NFMS system suitable for high-power microwave applications. Stepped dielectric metasurfaces are used to realize wideband beam-steering antenna systems used in sensing applications.