Leaky-wave antenna unit and antenna device

Abstract

The invention provides a leaky-wave antenna unit and an antenna device, and belongs to the technical field of antennae, and the leaky-wave antenna unit comprises a dielectric substrate which comprises a first side and a second side opposite to the first side; the artificial surface plasmon polariton (SSPP) structure comprises a transmission line located on the first side and a metal layer located on the second side, the metal layer is configured to be grounded, and the transmission line is configured to be connected with a feed part; wherein the transmission line is provided with a plurality of holes arranged periodically, the metal layer is provided with at least one defect groove penetrating through the metal layer, and the orthographic projection of the defect groove on the dielectric substrate is overlapped with the orthographic projection of the holes on the dielectric substrate.

Description

Leaky wave antenna element and antenna device Technical Field

[0001] This disclosure relates to the field of antenna technology, and in particular to a leaky wave antenna element and antenna device. Background Technology

[0002] Leaky wave antennas are a type of traveling wave antenna that not only possesses wide bandwidth but also exhibits a main lobe beam that varies with frequency, thus attracting widespread attention. In modern communication systems, leaky wave antennas need to maintain stable communication even in complex geographical environments and harsh conditions.

[0003] Among them, the leaky wave antenna has a pattern frequency scanning characteristic, that is, the beam direction changes with the frequency. Summary of the Invention

[0004] Based on the background technology, this disclosure proposes a leaky antenna element and an antenna device.

[0005] In a first aspect, this disclosure provides a leaky antenna element, comprising:

[0006] A dielectric substrate, including a first side and a second side opposite to the first side;

[0007] An artificial surface plasmon polariton (SSPP) structure includes a transmission line on a first side and a metal layer on a second side, the metal layer being configured to be grounded and the transmission line being configured to be connected to a feed portion.

[0008] The transmission line has a plurality of periodically arranged openings, and the metal layer has at least one defect groove penetrating the metal layer. The orthographic projection of the defect groove on the dielectric substrate overlaps with the orthographic projection of the opening on the dielectric substrate.

[0009] In some alternative examples, the orthographic projection of the defect groove on the dielectric substrate covers the orthographic projection of all the openings on the dielectric substrate.

[0010] In some optional examples, a plurality of the defect grooves are included, each of the plurality of defect grooves corresponding to a plurality of the openings;

[0011] In this case, the orthographic projection of different defect grooves on the dielectric substrate covers the orthographic projection of different openings on the dielectric substrate.

[0012] In some alternative examples, the plurality of openings correspond to at least two different apertures, and the defect grooves corresponding to the openings of different apertures have different areas of orthographic projection on the dielectric substrate.

[0013] In some alternative examples, the defect slots corresponding to openings of different apertures have different dimensions in the width direction and / or length direction of the transmission line.

[0014] In some alternative examples, the orthographic projection of the defect groove onto the dielectric substrate is a scaled-up image of the tangent of the orthographic projection of the opening onto the dielectric substrate.

[0015] In some alternative examples, the plurality of openings includes at least one of circular openings and elliptical openings.

[0016] In some alternative examples, the orthographic projection of the defect groove onto the dielectric substrate and the orthographic projection of the opening onto the dielectric substrate are both symmetrical patterns.

[0017] In some alternative examples, the dimension of the dielectric substrate in the width direction of the transmission line is 1.5 to 2 times the width of the transmission line.

[0018] In some alternative examples, each of the openings occupies the same area in the length direction of the transmission line.

[0019] In some alternative examples, the width of the transmission line is equal to the maximum dimension of the defect slot in the width direction of the transmission line.

[0020] In some alternative examples, the dielectric substrate includes a variety of dielectrics, each corresponding to a different dielectric constant;

[0021] The various media are periodically arranged in the arrangement direction of the multiple openings.

[0022] In a second aspect, this disclosure also provides an antenna device including a plurality of leaky antenna elements as described in any of the first aspects, and a feeding structure;

[0023] The feeding structure is connected to the transmission lines of the multiple leaky antenna elements.

[0024] In some optional examples, the power supply structure includes:

[0025] The power divider structure, located on the first side, includes N substructures, each substructure including at least one 1-to-2 power divider; wherein the number of input terminals of the nth substructure is the same as the number of output terminals of the (n-1)th substructure, the input terminals of the nth substructure are connected to the output terminals of the (n-1)th substructure, and the output terminals of the nth substructure are connected to the input terminals of the (n+1)th substructure; the multiple output terminals of the Nth substructure are respectively connected to the transmission lines in the multiple antenna elements; wherein N is a positive integer, and n is a positive integer less than or equal to N-1;

[0026] A grounding structure, located on the second side, is connected to the metal layer in the plurality of antenna elements.

[0027] In some alternative examples, the 1-to-2 power divider includes a first microstrip line and two second microstrip lines connected to the same end of the first microstrip line, the two second microstrip lines being symmetrical about the first microstrip line;

[0028] In this context, the second microstrip line of the nth-level substructure serves as the first microstrip line of the (n+1)th-level substructure.

[0029] This disclosure provides a leaky antenna element comprising a dielectric substrate and an artificial surface plasmon polariton (SSPP) structure. The SSPP structure includes a transmission line on a first side of the dielectric substrate and a metal layer on a second side of the dielectric substrate. The transmission line is connected to a feed portion, and the metal layer can be grounded. The transmission line has multiple openings, and the metal layer has at least one defect slot. The openings are periodically arranged, and the orthographic projection of the defect slot onto the dielectric substrate overlaps with the orthographic projection of the openings onto the dielectric substrate. Thus, because the transmission line and the metal layer cooperate to form the SSPP structure, the leaky antenna element can support multiple modes, including basic modes and higher-order modes. By exciting and utilizing higher-order modes, the leaky antenna element can achieve broadband beam scanning in a miniaturized structure, and the defect slot and openings cooperate to achieve effective mode coupling.

[0030] The above description is merely an overview of the technical solution disclosed herein. In order to better understand the technical means of this disclosure and to implement it in accordance with the contents of the specification, and to make the above and other objects, features and advantages of this disclosure more apparent and understandable, specific embodiments of this disclosure are described below. Attached Figure Description

[0031] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments or related technologies of this disclosure, the accompanying drawings used in the description of the embodiments or related technologies will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the accompanying drawings described below are some embodiments of this disclosure. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative effort. It should be noted that the scale in the drawings is for illustration only and does not represent the actual scale.

[0032] Figure 1 shows a schematic cross-sectional view of the leaky antenna element in an embodiment of this disclosure;

[0033] Figures 2 to 10 show schematic planar views of several leaky antenna elements in embodiments of this disclosure;

[0034] Figure 11 shows a cross-sectional structural schematic diagram of another leaky antenna element in an embodiment of this disclosure;

[0035] Figure 12 shows a planar schematic diagram of yet another leaky antenna element in an embodiment of this disclosure;

[0036] Figure 13 shows a schematic diagram of the external tangent pattern of the opening;

[0037] Figure 14 shows a schematic diagram of the dispersion curves of the leaky wave antenna in different modes under different region sizes d1;

[0038] Figures 15 to 17 show schematic plan views of several antenna devices in embodiments of this disclosure;

[0039] Figure 18 shows an enlarged schematic diagram of the power divider structure in Figure 17;

[0040] Figure 19 is the S-parameter diagram of the power supply structure shown in Figure 18. Detailed Implementation

[0041] To make the above-mentioned objectives, features, and advantages of this disclosure more apparent and understandable, the technical solutions of the embodiments of this disclosure will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some, not all, of the embodiments of this disclosure. Based on the embodiments of this disclosure, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of this disclosure.

[0042] In this specification, "electrical connection" and "coupling" include situations where components are connected together by elements that have some electrical function. There are no particular limitations on what constitutes an "electrical function," as long as it allows for the transmission and reception of electrical signals between the connected components. Examples of "electrical functions" include not only electrodes and wiring, but also switching elements such as transistors, resistors, inductors, capacitors, and other components with various functions.

[0043] In this specification, "parallel" refers to the state where the angle formed by two straight lines is greater than or equal to -10° and less than 10°, and therefore also includes the state where the angle is greater than or equal to -5° and less than 5°. Similarly, "perpendicular" refers to the state where the angle formed by two straight lines is greater than or equal to 80° and less than 100°, and therefore also includes the state where the angle is greater than or equal to 85° and less than 95°.

[0044] Unless the context otherwise requires, throughout the specification and claims, the term "comprising" is interpreted as open and encompassing, that is, "including, but not limited to".

[0045] In this application, "same layer" refers to the relationship between multiple film layers formed from the same material after undergoing the same step (e.g., a patterning process). "Same layer" here does not always mean that multiple film layers have the same thickness or the same height in a cross-sectional view. The polygons used in this specification are not strictly defined; they can be approximate triangles, parallelograms, trapezoids, pentagons, or hexagons, and may have minor deformations due to tolerances.

[0046] In the embodiments of this application, since the source and drain of the transistor are symmetrical, their source and drain can be interchanged. In the embodiments of this application, one of the source and drain of the transistor can also be called the first electrode, and the other of the source and drain can be called the second electrode.

[0047] In related technologies, leaky antennas have pattern frequency scanning characteristics. In order to broaden the beam scanning range of leaky antennas, the size of the leaky antenna is generally increased. However, this is not conducive to the miniaturization design of leaky antennas.

[0048] In view of this, the present disclosure aims to provide a leaky antenna that uses a combination of aperture array and defect slot structure to form an artificial surface plasmon polariton (SSPP) structure. Through the aperture array and defect slot structure, the leaky antenna element can support multiple modes, including basic mode and higher-order mode. In this way, by exciting and utilizing higher-order mode, the leaky antenna element can achieve wideband beam scanning in a miniaturized structure, thereby expanding the beam scanning range.

[0049] The leaky wave antenna and antenna device proposed in the embodiments of this disclosure will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0050] First, the technical terms involved in the embodiments of this disclosure are explained as follows:

[0051] Fundamental modes: The fundamental modes of an antenna mainly include guided mode, transmitted mode, and normal mode. The fundamental mode is the simplest mode. When using SSPPs structure, it usually occurs at the lowest frequency of the SSPPs structure. They have the lowest cutoff frequency, and the wave propagation is mainly along the centerline or axis of the structure. The fundamental modes usually have a high quality factor (Q factor), which means that they can maintain oscillation for a long time with small energy loss.

[0052] Higher-order modes refer to the phenomenon that an antenna can generate other modes besides the main mode at a specific frequency. Higher-order modes typically include secondary radiation modes and higher-order modes. When using SSPPs (Single-Side Panel Radiation Spectrometers), they can occur at higher frequencies and have more complex spatial distributions. These modes may have different amplitudes and phases in different parts of the structure, resulting in more complex wave propagation paths and mode shapes. Higher-order modes usually have lower quality factors.

[0053] The three basic modes in microwave transmission mainly include TEM, TE, and TM modes. TEM mode indicates that both the electric and magnetic fields are perpendicular to the transmission direction, with no longitudinal component. TE mode is characterized by only the magnetic field being perpendicular to the transmission direction, while TM mode has the electric field perpendicular to the transmission direction. The SSPPs structure in this embodiment can convert the quasi-TEM mode to TM mode, enabling switching between basic and higher-order modes, thus achieving broadband beam scanning.

[0054] The dispersion curves and radiation states of the leaky antenna element in this embodiment under the basic mode and the higher-order mode will be described in detail in subsequent embodiments.

[0055] Next, this disclosure proposes a leaky antenna element, which may include the following structure:

[0056] The dielectric substrate 12 includes a first side and a second side opposite to the first side;

[0057] The artificial surface plasmon polariton (SSPP) structure includes a transmission line 13 on a first side and a metal layer 11 on a second side, the metal layer 11 being configured to be grounded and the transmission line 13 being configured to be connected to a feed portion.

[0058] The transmission line 13 has a plurality of periodically arranged openings 131, and the metal layer 11 has at least one defect groove 111 that penetrates the metal layer 11. The orthographic projection of the defect groove 111 on the dielectric substrate 12 overlaps with the orthographic projection of the opening 131 on the dielectric substrate 12.

[0059] As shown in Figures 1 and 2, Figure 1 shows a cross-sectional view of the leaky antenna unit in this embodiment, and Figure 2 shows a planar view of the front and back sides of the dielectric substrate 12.

[0060] In this embodiment, the dielectric substrate 12 can be a dielectric substrate with a non-adjustable dielectric constant. In this case, the material of the dielectric substrate 12 can be determined according to the required dielectric constant. For example, the dielectric substrate 12 can be made of a material with a flame retardant rating of FR-4, such as glass fiber epoxy resin, which has a dielectric constant of 4.4 and a loss tangent of 0.02. Alternatively, the dielectric substrate 12 can be a dielectric layer with an adjustable dielectric constant. In one example, liquid crystal is contained in the dielectric substrate 12, so that the dielectric constant of the dielectric layer can change with the magnitude of the applied voltage, thereby causing a phase gradient in the leaky antenna element.

[0061] The thickness of the dielectric substrate 12 can be set according to actual needs.

[0062] In this embodiment, as shown in FIG1, the dielectric substrate 12 includes a first side and a second side opposite to the first side. The first side can be referred to as the front side of the dielectric substrate 12, and the second side can be referred to as the back side of the dielectric substrate 12.

[0063] As shown in Figure 1, a transmission line 13 is formed on the front side of the dielectric substrate 12, and a metal layer 11 is formed on the back side of the dielectric substrate 12. This metal layer 11 is grounded and can therefore also be called a ground metal layer 11. As shown in Figure 2, a plurality of periodically arranged openings 131 are formed on the transmission line 13. The openings 131 can be regarded as hollow holes on the transmission line 13. As shown in Figure 2, each opening 131 occupies a certain space on the transmission line 13, such as a certain area occupied by each opening 131 on the transmission line 13. The dimension of this area in the length direction of the transmission line 13 is d1. The plurality of openings 131 can be spaced by a gap d2, which can be represented as the spacing between the edges of adjacent openings 131. As shown in Figure 3a, the dimension d1 of the area where the opening 131 is located in the length direction of the transmission line 13 can be slightly larger than the gap d2 between the edges of the openings 131. In one example, the gap d2 between two adjacent openings 131 can be the same or different. For example, as shown in Figures 12 and 3a, the spacing d2 between two adjacent openings 131 is the same.

[0064] The multiple openings 131 can have the same shape. For example, as shown in Figures 2 and 3a, the multiple openings 131 are all circular, or as shown in Figures 3b and 3c, the multiple openings 131 are all elliptical. In one example, as shown in Figure 3b, when the opening 131 is elliptical, the major axis of the ellipse can be located in the width direction of the transmission line 13, and the minor axis of the elliptical opening 131 can be located in the length direction of the transmission line 13. In another example, as shown in Figure 3c, when the opening 131 is elliptical, the major axis of the elliptical opening 131 can be located in the length direction of the transmission line 13, and the minor axis of the elliptical opening 131 can be located in the width direction of the transmission line 13.

[0065] Among them, the size of multiple openings 131 can be the same. For example, if multiple openings 131 are all circular, the diameter of multiple openings 131 can be the same. Or, if multiple openings 131 are all elliptical, the major axis and minor axis of multiple openings 131 can be the same.

[0066] The sizes of the multiple openings 131 can also be inconsistent. For example, as shown in Figure 2, if all the openings 131 are circular, the diameter of some openings 131 may be larger than the diameter of others. For example, the radius of the larger diameter opening 131 may be 1 / 3 of the wavelength, and the radius of the smaller diameter opening 131 may be 1 / 4 of the wavelength. This wavelength may be the wavelength of the center frequency of the leaky wave antenna element.

[0067] The multiple openings 131 can be arranged in one or more rows along the extension direction of the transmission line 13. In this embodiment, arranging them in one row is taken as an example. The periodic arrangement of the multiple openings 131 can include: when the multiple openings 131 are arranged in one row, at least one of the aperture, shape, and spacing d2 of the multiple openings 131 is periodically varied. For example, as shown in FIG2, openings 131 with different aperture sizes are staggered on the transmission line 13; of course, this periodic arrangement also includes multiple openings 131 with the same shape and size being uniformly arranged on the transmission line 13, as shown in FIG3a to FIG3c, where the multiple openings 131 have the same shape and size, and the spacing d2 between the multiple openings 131 is also the same.

[0068] In this embodiment, the metal layer 11 on the back side of the dielectric substrate 12 has one or more defect grooves 111 penetrating the metal layer 11. The defect grooves 111 can be regarded as hollow structures on the metal layer 11. In one example, as shown in FIG2, it includes one defect groove 111, while in other examples, it may include multiple defect grooves 111.

[0069] The structure of the defect groove 111 in the metal layer 11 and the structure of the multiple periodic openings 131 on the transmission line 13 can cooperate with each other to form an artificial surface plasmon polariton (SSPP) structure. Thus, the SSPP structure of the leaky antenna unit in this embodiment includes both the ground metal layer 11 located on the back side of the dielectric substrate 12 and the transmission line 13 located on the front side of the dielectric substrate 12.

[0070] The defect groove 111 and the opening 131 can have a certain structural matching, enabling effective mode coupling. This structural matching can be manifested in the overlap of the orthographic projection of the defect groove 111 on the dielectric substrate 12 and the orthographic projection of the opening 131 on the dielectric substrate 12. In one example, this overlap can mean that the orthographic projection of the defect groove 111 on the dielectric substrate 12 partially overlaps with the orthographic projection of the opening 131 on the dielectric substrate 12. In another example, this overlap can mean that the orthographic projections of multiple openings 131 on the dielectric substrate 12 are all covered by the orthographic projection of the defect groove 111 on the dielectric substrate 12. In this case, regardless of whether there is one or multiple defect grooves 111, it is the defect groove 111 that covers the opening 131.

[0071] In other examples, the structural matching can also be reflected in the matching of quantity and shape. For example, the number of defect grooves 111 can be consistent with the number of multiple openings 131; or, for example, the shape of defect grooves 111 and the shape of openings 131 have common shape characteristics.

[0072] The transmission line 13 can be connected to the feed section of the antenna element. For example, the output terminal of the feed section can be connected to the transmission line 13. The feed section can also include a ground terminal, which can be connected to the metal layer 11. In this way, the antenna element can be waveguide fed.

[0073] In this embodiment, the periodically arranged openings 131 on the transmission line 13 can form an array of openings. When the fed electromagnetic wave signal is transmitted along the transmission line 13, it can be continuously radiated outward through multiple openings 131, thereby generating leakage waves.

[0074] The SSPPs structure formed by the transmission line 13 and the metal layer 11 can excite various modes in the leaky antenna, such as the basic mode and higher-order modes. By exciting and utilizing the higher-order modes, broadband beam scanning can be achieved. For example, by etching a hole array and a defect groove 111 on the front and back sides of the dielectric substrate 12, respectively, the quasi-TEM mode can be converted into a TM mode, supporting the propagation of SSPPs waves in the design.

[0075] Figure 14 illustrates the dispersion curves of a leaky-wave antenna in different modes under different region sizes d1. As shown in Figure 14, it can be clearly seen that the fundamental mode of the leaky-wave antenna element is below the speed of light propagation. This means that the fundamental mode of the SSPPs structure is located in the slow-wave region, allowing energy to be transmitted on its surface without radiation. The higher-order modes of the leaky-wave antenna element are located above the speed of light, meaning the electromagnetic waves are fast waves and can radiate into free space, exhibiting frequency beam scanning performance. Furthermore, the radiation performance of the SSPPs structure is achieved through multiple radiation modes, which increase with the mode order and can be represented by the -1st order spatial harmonic (Floquet mode). Specifically, as shown in Figure 14, the larger the size d1 of the region where the aperture 131 is located, the higher the mode order can be.

[0076] The leaky antenna unit of this embodiment, since the transmission line 13 and the metal layer 11 cooperate to form an SSPPs structure, enables the leaky antenna unit to support multiple modes, including basic modes and higher-order modes. By exciting and utilizing higher-order modes, the leaky antenna unit can achieve wideband beam scanning in a miniaturized structure. Furthermore, the multiple openings 131 on the transmission line 13 form an aperture array, and electromagnetic waves are continuously radiated outward through the multiple openings 131. Since the openings 131 are matched with defective slots 111, effective mode coupling can be achieved in each mode through the defective slots 111, thereby improving the radiation quality.

[0077] In some embodiments of the leaky wave antenna element, the size d1 of the area occupied by each aperture 131 in the length direction of the transmission line 13 may be the same. For example, the size d1 of the area occupied by the aperture 131 in the length direction of the transmission line 13 may be equal to one wavelength, which may be the wavelength of the center frequency of the leaky wave antenna element.

[0078] In some embodiments of the leaky antenna unit, the metal layer 11 may have a defect groove 111, the orthogonal projection of which on the dielectric substrate 12 can cover the orthogonal projection of all openings 131 on the dielectric substrate 12.

[0079] As shown in Figures 2 and 3a, a defect groove 111 can be formed in the metal layer 11, which can cover all the openings 131. That is, multiple openings 131 are covered by the same defect groove 111.

[0080] In one example, the defect groove 111 can be a rectangular defect groove 111. In this example, the dimension w2 of the defect groove 111 in the width direction of the transmission line 13 can be the same as the width w1 of the transmission line 13. In this way, when the width of the defect groove is equal to the width of the transmission line 13, their patterns can be better matched. As shown in Figures 2 and 3a, in a further example, the outer contour of the orthographic projection of the defect groove 111 on the dielectric substrate 12 can coincide with the outer contour of the orthographic projection of the transmission line 13 on the dielectric substrate 12. Of course, in a further example of this embodiment, when the width of the defect groove 111 is the same as the width of the transmission line 13, the outer contour of the orthographic projection of the defect groove 111 on the dielectric substrate 12 may not coincide with the outer contour of the orthographic projection of the transmission line 13 on the dielectric substrate 12, but the outer contour of the orthographic projection of the defect groove 111 on the dielectric substrate 12 surrounds the outer contour of the orthographic projection of the plurality of openings 131 on the dielectric substrate 12.

[0081] In some embodiments of the leaky antenna unit, the metal layer 11 may have a plurality of defect slots 111, wherein the number of defect slots 111 may be less than or equal to the number of openings 131.

[0082] When the number of defect grooves 111 is less than the number of openings 131, such as including M openings 131 and K defect grooves 111, where K is less than M, some or all of the defect grooves 111 can cover at least two openings 131.

[0083] In one implementation of this example, when multiple openings 131 are arranged periodically, they can be divided into multiple unit groups, with each unit group containing the same number and arrangement of openings 131. Thus, one unit group can correspond to one defect groove 111, and different unit groups correspond to different defect grooves 111. For example, as shown in FIG4, multiple openings 131 may have the same shape but different sizes, allowing them to be divided into multiple unit groups. Each unit group includes two openings 131 of different sizes (one cycle), and the multi-hole array in transmission can be viewed as a continuous arrangement of multiple identical unit groups. Each defect groove 111 corresponds to one unit group, and there are intervals between multiple defect grooves 111. The orthographic projection of a defect groove 111 onto the dielectric substrate 12 can cover multiple openings 131 within a unit group, but does not overlap with other unit groups.

[0084] In this example, the width w2 of each defect slot 111 can be the same as the width w1 of the transmission line 13, and the size and shape of multiple defect slots 111 can be the same.

[0085] In another implementation of this example, when at least one of the aperture, shape, and spacing d2 of the multiple openings 131 varies periodically, that is, when the multiple openings 131 differ in at least one of the aperture, shape, and spacing d2, the identical and adjacent openings 131 can be divided into a unit group; for example, the multiple openings 131 can be clustered according to their shape, aperture, and spacing d2, and the same group of openings 131 corresponds to the same type of defect groove 111. For example, as shown in FIG5, the multiple openings 131 have different aperture sizes. If two adjacent openings 131 are exactly the same, then the two adjacent openings 131 can be regarded as a first unit group 131a, and the openings 131 between the first unit groups 131a can be regarded as a second unit group 131b. Each first unit group 131a corresponds to a first defect groove 111a, and each second unit group 131b corresponds to a second defect groove 111b. The first defect groove 111a covers the two openings 131 in the first unit group 131a, and the second defect groove 111b covers the openings 131 in the second unit group 131b.

[0086] In this example, the lengths of the multiple defect slots 111 may differ, and the widths of the multiple defect slots 111 may be the same. For example, the width of the multiple defect slots 111 may be the same as the width of the transmission line 13.

[0087] In another implementation of this example, the multiple openings 131 can be divided according to a preset number, such as dividing multiple adjacent openings 131 into a unit group, with each unit group corresponding to a defect groove 111, and each defect groove 111 having the same shape and size. For example, as shown in FIG4, it can be regarded as dividing two adjacent openings 131 into a group.

[0088] In some embodiments of the leaky wave antenna unit, the number of defective slots 111 can be equal to the number of openings 131, so that each opening 131 can correspond to an independent defective slot 111, thereby making a one-to-one match between multiple openings 131 and multiple defective slots 111. In this leaky wave antenna unit, the orthographic projection of different defective slots 111 on the dielectric substrate 12 covers the orthographic projection of different openings 131 on the dielectric substrate 12.

[0089] For example, referring to Figure 6, M openings 131 correspond to M defect slots 111. The orthographic projection of each defect slot 111 on the dielectric substrate 12 covers the orthographic projection of one opening 131 on the dielectric substrate 12, and does not overlap with the orthographic projections of other openings 131 on the dielectric substrate 12. This allows multiple openings 131 to be independently matched by multiple defect slots 111, thereby improving matching accuracy and facilitating effective mode coupling.

[0090] In one example of this embodiment, the plurality of openings 131 correspond to at least two different apertures, and the areas of the defect grooves 111 corresponding to the openings 131 with different apertures are different in their orthogonal projection on the dielectric substrate 12.

[0091] In this example, the multiple openings 131 can have the same shape. For example, as shown in Figure 7, the orthographic projections of the multiple openings 131 onto the dielectric substrate 12 are all circular. However, the apertures of the multiple openings 131 are different, such as corresponding to two different aperture sizes. These two types of apertures 131 are periodically arranged on the transmission line 13. Alternatively, the multiple openings 131 can have different shapes. For example, as shown in Figure 6, the multiple openings 131 correspond to two shapes, such as some openings 1312 being elliptical and some openings 1311 being circular. The apertures of the two types of openings 131 are different, such as the diameter of the circular opening 1311 being larger than the major axis of the elliptical opening 1311.

[0092] In this example, the size of each defect groove 111 can be adapted to the size of its corresponding opening 131. For example, an opening 131 with a larger diameter can correspond to a defect groove 111 with a larger area. For example, as shown in Figure 6, a circular opening 1311 with a larger diameter corresponds to a first defect groove 1111 with a larger area, and an elliptical opening 1312 with a smaller diameter corresponds to a second defect groove 1112 with a smaller area; as shown in Figure 7, a circular opening 1311 with a larger diameter corresponds to a first defect groove 1111 with a larger area, and a circular opening 1312 with a smaller diameter corresponds to a second defect groove 1112 with a smaller area.

[0093] Among them, the defect groove 111 can be a rectangular defect groove 111. The area of ​​the defect groove 111 is the product of the width and length of the rectangular defect groove 111. In one example, as shown in Figures 6 and 7, defect grooves 111 with different areas can correspond to different widths; in another example, defect grooves 111 with different areas can correspond to different lengths; in yet another example, defect grooves 111 with different areas can correspond to different lengths and different widths.

[0094] In some examples, the maximum width of the defect groove 111 of different areas can be the same as the width of the transmission line 13. For example, as shown in Figures 6 and 7, the first defect groove 1111 has the largest width, which is the same as the width of the transmission line 13. In this case, the side w2 of the first defect groove 1111 projected onto the dielectric substrate 12 in the width direction can coincide with the short side w1 of the transmission line 13.

[0095] In some further examples of this example, the orthographic projection of the defect groove 111 onto the dielectric substrate 12 can be a scaled-up version of the circumscribed pattern 14 of the orthographic projection of the opening 131 onto the dielectric substrate 12.

[0096] This ratio can be 1.2, 1.3, 1.1, etc.

[0097] In this example, for the opening 131 and its circumscribed shape 14, the opening 131 can be regarded as the inscribed circle or inscribed ellipse of the circumscribed shape 14. For example, taking Figure 13 as an example, the circumscribed shape 14 of the ellipse is a rectangle, and the circumscribed shape 14 of the circle is a square.

[0098] In this example, the shape of the orthographic projection of the defect groove 111 onto the dielectric substrate 12 can be the same as the shape of the circumscribed shape 14 of the orthographic projection of the opening 131 onto the dielectric substrate 12. For example, as shown in FIG6, if the opening 1311 is circular, then the circumscribed shape 14 of the opening 1311 is a square, and the first defect groove 1111 corresponding to the circular opening 1311 can also be a square. As another example, as shown in FIG6, if the opening 1312 is elliptical, then the circumscribed shape 14 of the elliptical opening 1312 is a rectangle, and the second defect groove 1112 corresponding to the elliptical opening 1312 can also be a rectangle.

[0099] In this example, the orthographic projection of the defect groove 111 onto the dielectric substrate 12 can be a proportionally enlarged version of the circumscribed shape 14 of the opening 131. For example, as shown in Figures 6 and 13, the orthographic projection of the second defect groove 1112 onto the dielectric substrate 12 can be a proportionally enlarged version of the circumscribed shape 14 of an ellipse, such as the length of the circumscribed shape 14 being L1 and the width being W0, and the length of the orthographic projection of the second defect groove 1112 onto the dielectric substrate 12 being L2 and the width being W3, where L1 / L2 = W0 / W3, and L1 / L2 < 1 and W0 / W3 < 1. As another example, as shown in Figures 7 and 13, the orthographic projection of the first defect groove 1111 onto the dielectric substrate 12 can be a proportionally enlarged version of the circumscribed shape 14 of a circle, such as the side length of the circumscribed shape 14 being W4, and the side length of the orthographic projection of the first defect groove 1111 onto the dielectric substrate 12 being W5, where W4 / W5 < 1.

[0100] By adopting this example, the multiple defect grooves 111 also have a periodic structure, and can be consistent with the periodic changes of the multiple openings 131. Thus, the periodicity of the defect grooves 111 and the periodicity of the openings 131 are more conducive to the formation of specific electromagnetic modes and resonance conditions.

[0101] More specifically, this example allows the shape of the defect groove to vary slightly and follow the shape of the opening 131, thereby allowing the shape of the defect groove to further modulate the propagation characteristics of various modes.

[0102] In summary, when the areas of the multiple defect slots 111 are different, the maximum dimension w2 of the multiple defect slots 111 in the width direction of the transmission line 13 can be equal to the width of the transmission line 13.

[0103] In this embodiment, the area of ​​the defect groove 111 with the largest size in the width direction can also be the largest. As shown in FIG6, the first defect groove 1111 has the largest size in the width direction of the transmission line 13 and is equal to the width of the transmission line 13, and the area of ​​the first defect groove 1111 is relatively large.

[0104] In this embodiment, the area of ​​the defect groove 111 with the largest dimension in the width direction may not be the largest. As shown in FIG10, some openings 131 are elliptical and some are circular. The major axis dimension of the elliptical opening 131 is larger than the diameter of the circular opening 131. In this case, the second defect groove 1112 corresponding to the elliptical opening 1312 has the largest dimension in the width direction of the transmission line 13 and is equal to the width of the transmission line 13. However, the area of ​​the first defect groove 1111 corresponding to the circular opening 1311 is larger than the area of ​​the second defect groove 1112. That is to say, in some cases, the defect groove 111 with the largest dimension in the width direction of the transmission line 13 is not necessarily the defect groove 111 with a large area.

[0105] In some embodiments of the leaky antenna unit, the shapes of the plurality of openings 131 may not be consistent. In this case, the shapes of the plurality of defective grooves 111 may be the same. For example, the plurality of openings 131 may correspond to at least two different shapes, wherein the orthographic projections of the shapes of the plurality of defective grooves 111 onto the dielectric substrate 12 may all be the same.

[0106] For example, as shown in FIG8a, some of the multiple openings 131 are circular and some are elliptical. The major axis of the elliptical opening 131 is located in the width direction of the transmission line 13, and the minor axis is located in the length direction of the transmission line 13. The orthographic projection of the multiple defect grooves 111 on the dielectric substrate 12 can all be square.

[0107] As an example, as shown in FIG8b, some of the multiple openings 131 are circular and some are elliptical. The minor axis of the elliptical opening 131 is located in the width direction of the transmission line 13 and the major axis is located in the length direction of the transmission line 13. The orthographic projection of the multiple defect grooves 111 on the dielectric substrate 12 can all be square.

[0108] Alternatively, in some other examples, the orthographic projections of the multiple defect grooves 111 onto the dielectric substrate 12 may all be rectangles.

[0109] The multiple openings 131 can also include three shapes, such as some openings 131 being circular, some openings 131 being elliptical, and some openings 131 being crescent-shaped.

[0110] In some embodiments of the leaky wave antenna unit, the shapes and sizes of the multiple openings 131 may be inconsistent, but the shapes and sizes of the multiple defective slots 111 may be consistent. For example, as shown in FIG9, some openings 131 are circular and some openings 131 are elliptical. The diameters of the circular and elliptical openings 131 are different, but the shapes and sizes of the multiple defective slots 111 are the same.

[0111] In some embodiments of the leaky wave antenna unit, the defect slot 111 and the opening 131 may have the same shape, such as the opening 131 being circular and the defect slot 111 being circular.

[0112] In some embodiments of the leaky antenna element, the shapes of the defect slot 111 and the opening 131 can also be different. As shown in Figures 2 to 9, the opening 131 is circular, and the defect slot 111 can also be rectangular. In this case, in order to make the defect slot 111 and the opening 131 structurally match, the defect slot 111 and the opening 131 can have common structural features. In one example, both the defect slot 111 and the opening 131 can be symmetrical shapes, for example, they can be axisymmetric or centrally symmetric shapes.

[0113] As shown in Figures 2 to 9, the opening 131 is circular or elliptical, belonging to a symmetrical shape, while the defect groove 111 can be rectangular or square. A rectangle is an axially symmetrical shape, and a square is a centrally symmetrical shape. This helps to ensure the uniformity and stability of electromagnetic waves during transmission.

[0114] In some embodiments of the leaky antenna unit, the width of the transmission line 13 can have a certain proportional relationship with the width w of the dielectric substrate 12. Specifically, the dimension w of the dielectric substrate 12 in the width direction of the transmission line 13 is 1.5 to 2 times the width w1 of the transmission line 13. For example, the dimension of the dielectric substrate 12 in the width direction of the transmission line 13 is 1.5 times, 1.6 times, 1.7 times, 1.8 times, 1.9 times, or 2 times the width of the transmission line 13.

[0115] The width w1 of the transmission line 13 can be determined according to the required impedance, such as the length of w1 being calculated based on a 50-ohm impedance.

[0116] In some embodiments of the leaky antenna unit, the dielectric substrate 12 may include a variety of different dielectrics, each corresponding to a different dielectric constant; wherein, the various dielectrics are periodically arranged in the arrangement direction of the multiple openings 131.

[0117] For example, the dielectric substrate 12 may include two or more types of dielectrics. For instance, the number of types of dielectrics included in the dielectric substrate 12 may be the same as the number of arrangement cycles corresponding to the plurality of openings 131. For example, if the plurality of openings 131 are arranged in 5 cycles, then 5 types of dielectrics may be included. Alternatively, the number of types of dielectrics included in the dielectric substrate 12 may be the same as the number of types corresponding to the plurality of openings 131.

[0118] In one example, multiple media can also be arranged periodically. For instance, if the number of media types is the same as the number of types corresponding to the multiple openings 131, the multiple media can be arranged in a period consistent with the array of openings 131. As shown in Figure 2, if two types of openings 131 are included, then two types of media can be included, and the two media can also be arranged periodically.

[0119] In another example, the multiple media can be independent of the period and type of the opening 131. The multiple media can be arranged according to their dielectric constant, such as in the order of high-low-high-low dielectric constant, or in the order of increasing and decreasing dielectric constant.

[0120] Using this example, a phase-gradient structure can be introduced into the leaky antenna element to achieve beam scanning.

[0121] In another embodiment of the leaky antenna unit, as shown in Figures 11 and 12, a parasitic radiation structure may also be included. The parasitic radiation structure may be disposed on a different layer from the transmission line 13. The parasitic radiation structure may be located on the side of the transmission line 13 away from the dielectric substrate 12. For example, a thin dielectric layer 15 may be disposed between the transmission line 13 and the parasitic radiation structure, and the parasitic radiation structure may be disposed on the dielectric layer 15.

[0122] The parasitic radiation structure may include a parasitic transmission line 16, and the parasitic transmission line 16 may also include multiple parasitic holes 161. The parasitic holes 161 penetrate the parasitic transmission line 16, and the multiple parasitic holes 161 are also arranged periodically. For example, the periodic arrangement of the multiple parasitic holes 161 can be consistent with the periodic arrangement of the multiple openings 131.

[0123] The size of the parasitic via 161 can be smaller than the size of the opening 131. In one example, the orthographic projection of the transmission line 13 on the dielectric substrate 12 can cover the orthographic projection of the parasitic transmission line 16 on the dielectric substrate 12. In a further example, the orthographic projection of the opening 131 on the dielectric substrate 12 can cover the orthographic projection of the parasitic via 161 on the dielectric substrate 12.

[0124] The dielectric constant of the medium 15 located between the transmission line 13 and the parasitic radiation structure can be less than the dielectric constant of the dielectric substrate 12. In one example, the medium 15 between the transmission line 13 and the parasitic radiation structure can also be air.

[0125] In this embodiment, both the transmission line 13 and the parasitic radiation structure can be configured as multi-layer structures. This allows the electromagnetic waves transmitted on the transmission line 13 to be coupled to the parasitic radiation structure for further transmission, thereby increasing the propagation distance of the electromagnetic waves in the unit structure and improving the radiation efficiency.

[0126] In some embodiments, an antenna device is also provided, which may include a plurality of leaky antenna elements as shown in Figures 1-12, and the plurality of leaky antenna elements may be arranged in an array.

[0127] The antenna device may also include a feeding structure that can be connected to the transmission line 13 in a plurality of leaky antenna elements.

[0128] Among them, array arrangement can refer to rectangular array arrangement.

[0129] Multiple leaky antenna elements can share a dielectric substrate 12, as shown in Figure 13, which is a top view of the antenna device. As shown in Figure 13, the front side of the dielectric substrate 12 includes multiple transmission lines 13 arranged in an array. The back side of the dielectric substrate 12 includes a metal layer 11, on which defect slots 111 corresponding to each transmission line 13 are formed. The shape, size and number of defect slots 111 can be any of those in Figures 2-10. A transmission line 13 and the defect slot 111 corresponding to that transmission line 13 constitute a leaky antenna element.

[0130] As shown in Figure 13, the power supply structure can be connected to each transmission line 13. Specifically, in order to ensure the uniformity of the electrical signals fed into the multiple transmission lines 13 by the power supply structure, the power supply structure can use a power divider to evenly distribute the electrical signals input to the power supply structure to the multiple transmission lines 13.

[0131] This antenna device, which includes multiple leaky antenna elements arranged in an array, can enhance radiated power by increasing the number of antenna elements through an array design.

[0132] In one example of this embodiment, as shown in Figures 15 and 17, the antenna device can be composed of multiple identical leaky antenna elements arranged in this example. Different leaky antenna elements can have the same SSPP structure, such as the same number of openings 131 on the transmission line 13, and the periodic arrangement of the multiple openings 131 on each transmission line 13 is consistent. For example, as shown in Figure 15, different leaky antenna elements can have the same SSPP structure, such as the same number of openings 131 on each transmission line 13, including openings 131 of two different aperture sizes, which are arranged alternately on the transmission line 13.

[0133] As an example, as shown in FIG17, different leaky antenna elements can have the same SSPP structure, such as the same number of multiple openings 131 on each transmission line 13, the same aperture of the openings 131, and all openings 131 are elliptical openings 131, with the major axis of the elliptical openings 131 aligned with the width direction of the transmission line 13.

[0134] In one example of this embodiment, as shown in FIG16, multiple leaky antenna elements can have two SSPPs structures. For example, the number of openings 131 included in the transmission line 13 of one leaky antenna element is the same as the number of openings 131 included in the transmission line 13 of another leaky antenna element. However, the aperture of the openings 131 included in the transmission line 13 of one leaky antenna element is larger than the aperture of the openings 131 included in the transmission line 13 of the other leaky antenna element. In this example, the openings 131 on the transmission lines 13 of different leaky antenna elements can be aligned.

[0135] Using this example, leaky antenna elements with different SSPPs structures can be excited to produce different modes. As shown in Figure 16, leaky antenna element 100a can be excited to produce the fundamental mode, while leaky antenna element 100b can be excited to produce higher-order mode radiation.

[0136] In one example of this embodiment, the feeding structure can be formed by cascading multiple 1-to-2 power dividers, wherein the number of 1-to-2 power dividers can be determined by the number of leaky antenna elements.

[0137] For example, as shown in FIG15, the power supply structure may include:

[0138] The power divider structure 21, located on the first side, includes N substructures 211, each substructure 211 including at least one 1-to-2 power divider. The number of input terminals of the nth substructure 211 is the same as the number of output terminals of the (n-1)th substructure 211, and the input terminals of the nth substructure 211 are connected to the output terminals of the (n-1)th substructure 211. The multiple output terminals of the Nth substructure 211 are respectively connected to the transmission lines 13 in multiple antenna elements. Here, N is a positive integer, and n is a positive integer less than or equal to N.

[0139] The grounding structure, located on the second side, is connected to the metal layer 11 in the multiple antenna elements.

[0140] In this embodiment, the power divider structure 21 may include multiple 1-to-2 power dividers. The multiple 1-to-2 power dividers are cascaded to obtain an N-level substructure 211, as shown in Figures 15-17. It includes four leaky antenna elements, which in turn include three 1-to-2 power dividers. The three 1-to-2 power dividers are cascaded to obtain a two-level substructure 211.

[0141] In this substructure 211, the input terminal of the 1-to-2 power divider in each substructure 211 is used as the input terminal of the substructure 211, and the output terminal of the 1-to-2 power divider in each substructure 211 is used as the output terminal of the substructure 211. Therefore, the number of input terminals of the substructure 211 can be the sum of the number of 1-to-2 power dividers included in the substructure 211, and the number of output terminals of the substructure 211 can be the sum of the number of output terminals of the 1-to-2 power dividers included in the substructure 211.

[0142] As shown in Figures 15-17, the input terminal of the nth-level substructure 211 is connected to the output terminal of the (n-1)th-level substructure 211, and the output terminal of the nth-level substructure 211 is connected to the input terminal of the (n+1)th-level substructure 211. Then, the multiple output terminals of the Nth-level substructure 211 are respectively connected to the transmission lines 13 in multiple antenna elements. In other words, the multiple output terminals of the last-level substructure 211 are respectively connected to multiple transmission lines 13.

[0143] Where n takes the value 1, 2, 3...N-1.

[0144] The power supply structure may also include a grounding structure. In practice, the grounding structure of the power supply structure may include a grounding terminal, which may be connected to the metal layer 11.

[0145] In this embodiment, by cascading multiple 1-to-2 power dividers, the signal can be effectively distributed from a single input port to multiple output ports, thereby exciting each antenna element in the array, ensuring the correct distribution of power between the input and output ports, and optimizing the network bandwidth and performance.

[0146] In some embodiments, the power divider structure 21 can be formed by cascading multiple microstrip lines, as shown in Figure 18, which is an enlarged schematic diagram of the power divider structure 21 in Figure 17. As shown in Figure 18, the 1-to-2 power divider in the power divider structure 21 includes a first microstrip line and two second microstrip lines connected to the same end of the first microstrip line. The two second microstrip lines are symmetrical along the first microstrip line. After cascading, the second microstrip line of the nth stage substructure 211 serves as the first microstrip line of the (n+1)th stage substructure 211. That is to say, the same microstrip line can serve as the output microstrip line of the current stage substructure 211 or as the input microstrip line of the next stage substructure 211.

[0147] For example, as shown in FIG18, the second microstrip line Z1 of the first-level substructure 211 also serves as the first microstrip line of the second-level substructure 211.

[0148] In this way, the end of the first microstrip line connected to the second microstrip line is used as the output terminal, and the other end is used as the input terminal. The end of the second microstrip line not connected to the first microstrip line is used as the output terminal, so that the first microstrip line becomes the input of the 1-to-2 power divider, and the second microstrip line is called the output of the 1-to-2 power divider.

[0149] The power divider structure 21 in this embodiment can be easily integrated with antenna array designs.

[0150] In this embodiment, the line between the output and input of the 1-to-2 power divider is a microstrip line, where the impedance of the microstrip line can be 50Ω. In some examples, a λ / 4 impedance transformer (λ represents wavelength) is cascaded between the output and input of each 1-to-2 power divider, i.e., λ / 4 matching is used, for example, by placing a λ / 4 impedance transformer between the two second microstrip lines. In practice, the impedance of the line between the output and input of each 1-to-2 power divider can be calculated based on even-mode and odd-mode theory.

[0151] The λ / 4 impedance transformer cascaded between the output and input terminals can further enhance the impedance bandwidth.

[0152] The impedance values ​​of the output and input terminals of the 1-to-2 power divider can also be determined based on even-mode and odd-mode theory. As shown in Figure 18, the impedance values ​​at Z0 of multiple 1-to-2 power dividers can be 50Ω, 55.79Ω, 64.79Ω, 77.18Ω, and 89.63Ω, respectively.

[0153] The design in this embodiment enhances the impedance bandwidth by using cascaded microstrip lines and λ / 4 impedance transformers, and the optimal impedance value can be determined based on even-mode and odd-mode theory.

[0154] As shown in Figure 19, which displays the S-parameters of the feed structure shown in Figure 18, it can be seen that the use of cascaded microstrip lines and λ / 4 impedance transformers enhances the impedance bandwidth and provides excellent electrical performance.

[0155] The SSPP-based antenna array of this embodiment has the following advantages in practical applications:

[0156] Wideband beam scanning: Because higher-order modes lie above light rays, electromagnetic waves can radiate into free space, thus achieving wideband beam scanning. This characteristic makes antenna arrays promising for a wide range of applications in radar, communication, and sensing systems.

[0157] High gain: Through the coordinated work of multiple antenna elements, the antenna array can form a beam with a specific directionality, thereby increasing the gain. High gain helps to improve the coverage and quality of the signal.

[0158] Strong anti-interference capability: Due to the high directivity of the antenna array, it can suppress interference signals from non-target directions to a certain extent. This is very important for systems operating in complex electromagnetic environments.

[0159] Easy to integrate: The design based on the F4B substrate (dielectric substrate) makes the antenna array easy to integrate with other microwave or radio frequency circuits, facilitating the miniaturization and modularization of the system.

[0160] Low manufacturing cost: The antennas mentioned above can be formed using traditional PCB processing technology, allowing for the manufacture of high-precision, high-reliability antenna arrays at a relatively low cost.

[0161] In summary, wide-angle beam scanning leaky wave antenna arrays based on aperture arrays (SSPPs) have advantages in practical applications, such as wide-band beam scanning, high gain, strong anti-interference capability, easy integration, and low manufacturing cost.

[0162] In some embodiments, an antenna device may also be provided, which may include the leaky antenna described above.

[0163] The leaky wave antenna described above can be applied to antenna design in the microwave and terahertz bands, and can be widely used in modern wireless communication, radar detection, satellite communication and other fields.

[0164] The various embodiments in this specification are described in a progressive manner, with each embodiment focusing on the differences from other embodiments. The same or similar parts between the various embodiments can be referred to each other.

[0165] Finally, it should be noted that in this document, relational terms such as "first" and "second" are used only to distinguish one entity or operation from another, and do not necessarily require or imply any such actual relationship or order between these entities or operations. Furthermore, the terms "comprising," "including," or any other variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements includes not only those elements but also other elements not expressly listed, or elements inherent to such a process, method, article, or apparatus. Without further limitations, an element defined by the phrase "comprising one..." does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus that includes said element.

[0166] The above provides a detailed description of a leaky antenna element and antenna device provided by this disclosure. Specific examples have been used to illustrate the principles and implementation methods of this disclosure. The description of the above embodiments is only for the purpose of helping to understand the method and core ideas of this disclosure. At the same time, for those skilled in the art, there will be changes in the specific implementation methods and application scope based on the ideas of this disclosure. Therefore, the content of this specification should not be construed as a limitation of this disclosure.

[0167] Other embodiments of this disclosure will readily occur to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the specification and practice of the invention disclosed herein. This disclosure is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of this disclosure that follow the general principles of this disclosure and include common knowledge or customary techniques in the art not disclosed herein. The specification and examples are to be considered exemplary only, and the true scope and spirit of this disclosure are indicated by the following claims.

[0168] It should be understood that this disclosure is not limited to the precise structures described above and shown in the accompanying drawings, and various modifications and changes can be made without departing from its scope. The scope of this disclosure is limited only by the appended claims.

[0169] The terms "an embodiment," "embodiment," or "one or more embodiments" as used herein mean that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with an embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of this disclosure. Furthermore, please note that the examples of the phrase "in one embodiment" do not necessarily all refer to the same embodiment.

[0170] Numerous specific details are set forth in the specification provided herein. However, it will be understood that embodiments of this disclosure may be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well-known methods, structures, and techniques have not been shown in detail so as not to obscure the understanding of this specification.

[0171] In the claims, any reference signs placed between parentheses should not be construed as limiting the claims. The word "comprising" does not exclude the presence of elements or steps not listed in the claims. The word "a" or "an" preceding an element does not exclude the presence of a plurality of such elements. This disclosure can be implemented by means of hardware comprising a plurality of different elements and by means of a suitably programmed computer. In a unit claim enumerating a plurality of means, several of these means may be embodied by the same item of hardware. The use of the words first, second, and third, etc., does not indicate any order. These words may be interpreted as names.

[0172] Finally, it should be noted that the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of this disclosure, and are not intended to limit them. Although this disclosure has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that modifications can still be made to the technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments, or equivalent substitutions can be made to some of the technical features. Such modifications or substitutions do not cause the essence of the corresponding technical solutions to deviate from the spirit and scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of this disclosure.

Claims

1. A leaky wave antenna element, characterized in that, include: A dielectric substrate, including a first side and a second side opposite to the first side; An artificial surface plasmon polariton (SSPP) structure includes a transmission line on a first side and a metal layer on a second side, the metal layer being configured to be grounded, and the transmission line being configured to be connected to a power supply portion; wherein the transmission line has a plurality of periodically arranged openings, the metal layer has at least one defect groove penetrating the metal layer, and the orthographic projection of the defect groove on the dielectric substrate overlaps with the orthographic projection of the openings on the dielectric substrate.

2. The leaky wave antenna element according to claim 1, characterized in that, The orthogonal projection of the defect groove on the dielectric substrate covers the orthogonal projection of all the openings on the dielectric substrate.

3. The leaky wave antenna element according to claim 2, characterized in that, It includes a plurality of defect grooves, each of which corresponds to a plurality of openings; wherein the orthographic projection of different defect grooves on the dielectric substrate covers the orthographic projection of different openings on the dielectric substrate.

4. The leaky wave antenna element according to claim 3, characterized in that, The plurality of openings correspond to at least two different apertures, and the defect grooves corresponding to the openings of different apertures have different areas of orthographic projection on the dielectric substrate.

5. The leaky wave antenna element according to claim 4, characterized in that, Defect slots of different areas have different dimensions in the width direction and / or length direction of the transmission line.

6. The leaky wave antenna element according to claim 4, characterized in that, The orthographic projection of the defect groove onto the dielectric substrate is a scaled-up image of the tangent of the orthographic projection of the opening onto the dielectric substrate.

7. The leaky wave antenna element according to claim 1, characterized in that, The plurality of openings includes at least one of circular openings and elliptical openings.

8. The leaky wave antenna element according to claim 1, characterized in that, The orthographic projections of the defect groove and the orthographic projections of the opening on the dielectric substrate are both symmetrical.

9. The leaky wave antenna element according to claim 1, characterized in that, The dimension of the dielectric substrate in the width direction of the transmission line is 1.5 to 2 times the width of the transmission line.

10. The leaky wave antenna element according to claim 1, characterized in that, Each of the openings occupies the same area in the length direction of the transmission line.

11. The leaky wave antenna element according to any one of claims 1-10, characterized in that, The width of the transmission line is equal to the maximum dimension of the defect slot in the width direction of the transmission line.

12. The leaky wave antenna element according to any one of claims 1-10, characterized in that, The dielectric substrate includes a variety of dielectrics, each corresponding to a different dielectric constant; wherein, the various dielectrics are periodically arranged in the arrangement direction of the multiple openings.

13. An antenna device, characterized in that, It includes a plurality of leaky antenna elements as described in any one of claims 1-12, and a feeding structure; wherein the feeding structure is connected to the transmission lines of the plurality of leaky antenna elements.

14. The antenna device according to claim 13, characterized in that, The power supply structure includes: a power divider structure located on the first side, comprising N substructures, each substructure including at least one 1-to-2 power divider; wherein the number of input terminals of the nth substructure is the same as the number of output terminals of the (n-1)th substructure, the input terminals of the nth substructure are connected to the output terminals of the (n-1)th substructure, and the output terminals of the nth substructure are connected to the input terminals of the (n+1)th substructure; the multiple output terminals of the Nth substructure are respectively connected to the transmission lines in the multiple antenna elements; wherein N is a positive integer, and n is a positive integer less than or equal to N-1; and a grounding structure located on the second side, connected to the metal layer in the multiple antenna elements.

15. The antenna device according to claim 14, characterized in that, The 1-to-2 power divider includes a first microstrip line and two second microstrip lines connected to the same end of the first microstrip line. The two second microstrip lines are symmetrical about the first microstrip line. The second microstrip line of the nth substructure serves as the first microstrip line of the (n+1)th substructure.

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