Evaluation of the thin film polyimide-based holographic metasurface inspired leaky-wave antenna

The proposed paper presents the design of a leaky-wave antenna inspired by holographic metasurfaces employing thin film. Leveraging the holographic principle, this metasurface showcases its transformative capacity by converting an omnidirectionally radiating monopole into a highly directional antenna emitting leaky waves. The holographic metasurface is constructed using a thin film of polyimide (PI) (Df = 0.008; Dk = 3.5), measuring 50 μm in thickness. The antenna structure comprises multiple layers, commencing with the top PI layer, succeeded by a 40 μm thick adhesive layer (Df = 0.004; Dk = 6). Subsequent layer includes the Rogers RT/duroid 5880 substrate (Df = 0.0009; Dk = 2.20), grounded at the bottom and has a thickness of 1.6 mm. The meticulously tailored design of the proposed antenna ensures optimal performance at 15 GHz, facilitating directional radiation and precise beam steering at 10 degrees (ϴ = 10°). This innovative design, incorporating the holographic metasurface on thin film, significantly enhances the antenna's performance, increasing gain from 1.5 dBi to 13.8 dBi.