TY - JOUR
T1 - 3D-Printed Subterahertz High-Scanning-Rate Leaky-Wave Antenna Based on Metallic Spoof Surface Plasmon Polaritons
AU - Liu, Zheliang
AU - Gao, Yilin
AU - Lu, Hongda
AU - Qian, Lu
AU - Liu, Yong
AU - Gao, Steven
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2011-2012 IEEE.
PY - 2026/5/1
Y1 - 2026/5/1
N2 - This letter proposes a 3D-printed subterahertz fully metallic frequency-scanning (FS) periodic leaky-wave antenna (LWA) based on a spoof surface plasmon polariton (SSPP) transmission line. Glide symmetry is introduced into the conventional domino-Type SSPP transmission line to increase dispersion, thereby enabling a higher scanning rate. An asymmetric periodic modulation structure is designed to excite leaky-wave radiation while suppressing the open stopband effect without extra elements. A gap waveguide (GWG) is utilized as the feeding structure, which mitigates energy leakage from potential assembly gaps and significantly reduces fabrication difficulty and assembly complexity. The SSPPs and GWG structures are monolithically fabricated using high-precision 3-D printing and surface-metallized via magnetron sputtering of gold. Experimental measurements of a prototype demonstrate continuous beam scanning from-29to +49$ within the frequency range from 180 to 220 GHz, achieving a scanning rate of 3.9/%BW. The peak gain varies between 11.13 and 16.53 dBi. This work provides a cost-effective, high-performance, and feasible solution for metallic FS LWAs, with promising applications in terahertz imaging and radar systems.
AB - This letter proposes a 3D-printed subterahertz fully metallic frequency-scanning (FS) periodic leaky-wave antenna (LWA) based on a spoof surface plasmon polariton (SSPP) transmission line. Glide symmetry is introduced into the conventional domino-Type SSPP transmission line to increase dispersion, thereby enabling a higher scanning rate. An asymmetric periodic modulation structure is designed to excite leaky-wave radiation while suppressing the open stopband effect without extra elements. A gap waveguide (GWG) is utilized as the feeding structure, which mitigates energy leakage from potential assembly gaps and significantly reduces fabrication difficulty and assembly complexity. The SSPPs and GWG structures are monolithically fabricated using high-precision 3-D printing and surface-metallized via magnetron sputtering of gold. Experimental measurements of a prototype demonstrate continuous beam scanning from-29to +49$ within the frequency range from 180 to 220 GHz, achieving a scanning rate of 3.9/%BW. The peak gain varies between 11.13 and 16.53 dBi. This work provides a cost-effective, high-performance, and feasible solution for metallic FS LWAs, with promising applications in terahertz imaging and radar systems.
KW - Frequency scanning (FS)
KW - fully metallic spoof surface plasmon polaritons (SSPPs)
KW - high scanning rate
KW - leaky-wave antenna (LWA)
KW - subterahertz (sub-THz)
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105031569624
U2 - 10.1109/TTHZ.2026.3668344
DO - 10.1109/TTHZ.2026.3668344
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:105031569624
SN - 2156-342X
VL - 16
SP - 601
EP - 606
JO - IEEE Transactions on Terahertz Science and Technology
JF - IEEE Transactions on Terahertz Science and Technology
IS - 5
ER -