Reconfigurable intelligent surface unit, antenna, communication device and manufacturing method of antenna

Abstract

Provided in the present disclosure is a reconfigurable intelligent surface unit, comprising a first conductive layer, a dielectric layer and a second conductive layer, the first conductive layer being located on a first surface of the dielectric layer, the second conductive layer being located on a second surface of the dielectric layer, the second surface being a surface opposite to the first surface, the shape of the first conductive layer comprising a first shape and a second shape, the first shape being a centrosymmetric pattern, the second shape extending outwards along the edge of the first shape, and the second shape being in a radial shape. The present disclosure further provides a reconfigurable intelligent surface antenna, a communication device and a manufacturing method for the reconfigurable intelligent surface antenna.

Description

Intelligent metasurface unit, antenna, communication device and antenna preparation method

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This disclosure claims priority to Chinese patent application No. 202311638548.4 filed on November 30, 2023, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. Technical Field

[0003] The present disclosure relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a smart metasurface unit, a smart metasurface antenna, a communication device, and a method for preparing the smart metasurface antenna. Background Art

[0004] Smart metasurface antennas are antenna arrays composed of subwavelength units. They possess extraordinary electromagnetic properties not possessed by ordinary materials and are typically used to precisely control incident electromagnetic waves. By manipulating the electromagnetic response characteristics of each smart metasurface unit, different digital states of smart metasurface units can be obtained. Arranged according to a specific precoding sequence, different smart metasurface units form a two-dimensional smart metasurface. The precoding sequence controls the shape, size, and direction of the output electromagnetic beam to achieve system performance optimization goals for the joint deployment of base stations and smart metasurfaces, including enhanced coverage, increased capacity, and reduced energy consumption. Furthermore, terahertz smart metasurfaces have broad application prospects in sensing, imaging, and mobile communications.

[0005] In the future deployment of communication systems, static intelligent metasurface antennas will occupy an important position in communication equipment antennas because they do not require control switches, control circuit boards, controllers and corresponding power supplies, and have the advantages of energy saving and environmental protection, easy deployment, low cost, low profile, strong scalability and high gain.

[0006] Most of the related static intelligent metasurface antennas use ion etching technology or photolithography technology, which has high process complexity and high processing cost, and is not conducive to production cost control.

[0007] Summary of the Invention

[0008] On the one hand, the present disclosure provides an intelligent metasurface unit, comprising a first conductive layer, a dielectric layer, and a second conductive layer, wherein the first conductive layer is located on the first surface of the dielectric layer, and the second conductive layer is located on the second surface of the dielectric layer, and the second surface is a surface opposite to the first surface; the shape of the first conductive layer includes a first shape and a second shape, the first shape is a centrally symmetrical figure, the second shape extends outward along the edge of the first shape, and the second shape is radial.

[0009] On the other hand, the present disclosure also provides a smart metasurface antenna, comprising a first smart metasurface unit and a second smart metasurface unit, wherein the first smart metasurface unit is the smart metasurface unit as described above, and the second smart metasurface unit has a different phase from the first smart metasurface unit.

[0010] On the other hand, the present disclosure also provides a communication device, including the smart metasurface antenna as described above.

[0011] On the other hand, the present disclosure also provides a method for preparing an intelligent metasurface antenna, which is used to prepare the intelligent metasurface antenna as described above, comprising: forming a pattern of a first conductive layer on the first surface of a dielectric layer through a printing process, the pattern of the first conductive layer including a first shape and a second shape, the first shape being a centrally symmetrical figure, the second shape extending outward along the edge of the first shape, and the second shape being radial; forming a second conductive layer on the second surface of the dielectric layer, the second surface being the surface opposite to the first surface. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012] FIG1a is a schematic structural diagram of a horizontally and vertically polarized smart metasurface unit provided by the present disclosure;

[0013] FIG1b is a schematic structural diagram of a horizontally and vertically polarized smart metasurface unit provided by the present disclosure;

[0014] FIG1c is a schematic structural diagram of a horizontally and vertically polarized smart metasurface unit provided by the present disclosure;

[0015] FIG2 is a schematic structural diagram of a smart metasurface unit with positive and negative 45-degree polarization provided by the present disclosure;

[0016] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of the smart metasurface antenna provided by the present disclosure;

[0017] FIG4 is a partial exploded schematic diagram of the smart metasurface antenna provided by the present disclosure;

[0018] FIG5 a is a schematic diagram of amplitude response curves of four digital states provided by the present disclosure;

[0019] FIG5 b is a schematic diagram of phase response curves of four digital states provided by the present disclosure;

[0020] FIG6 a is a schematic diagram of codebook distribution for a narrow beam 20-degree reflection provided by the present disclosure;

[0021] FIG6 b is a two-dimensional far-field pattern of a narrow beam 20-degree reflection provided by the present disclosure;

[0022] FIG6 c is a three-dimensional far-field pattern of a narrow beam 20-degree reflection provided by the present disclosure;

[0023] FIG7 a is a schematic diagram of codebook distribution for a wide beam 20-degree reflection provided by the present disclosure;

[0024] FIG7 b is a two-dimensional far-field pattern of a wide beam 20-degree reflection provided by the present disclosure;

[0025] FIG7 c is a three-dimensional far-field pattern of a wide beam 20-degree reflection provided by the present disclosure;

[0026] FIG8 is a codebook distribution and a three-dimensional far-field pattern of four-beam vertical incidence provided by the present disclosure;

[0027] FIG9 is a schematic structural diagram of a smart metasurface antenna of a flexible medium provided by the present disclosure;

[0028] FIG10 is a schematic flow chart of a method for preparing the smart metasurface antenna provided in the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0029] Hereinafter, example embodiments will be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings, but the example embodiments may be embodied in different forms, and the present disclosure should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. These embodiments are provided to make this disclosure more thorough and complete and to enable those skilled in the art to fully understand the scope of this disclosure.

[0030] As used herein, the term "and / or" includes any and all combinations of at least one of the associated listed items.

[0031] The terms used herein are used only to describe specific embodiments and do not limit the present disclosure. As used herein, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" also include the plural forms, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will also be understood that when the terms "comprising" and / or "made of" are used in this specification, they specify the presence of a particular feature, whole, step, operation, element, and / or component, but do not exclude the presence or addition of at least one other feature, whole, step, operation, element, component, and / or group thereof.

[0032] The embodiments described herein may be described with reference to plan views and / or cross-sectional views, with the aid of idealized schematic diagrams of the present disclosure. Therefore, the example illustrations may be modified based on manufacturing techniques and / or tolerances. Therefore, the embodiments are not limited to the embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings, but include modifications of the configurations formed based on the manufacturing process. Therefore, the regions illustrated in the accompanying drawings are schematic in nature, and the shapes of the regions shown in the drawings illustrate specific shapes of the regions of the components, but are not limiting.

[0033] Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by those skilled in the art. It will also be understood that terms such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries should be interpreted as having a meaning consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and the present disclosure, and will not be interpreted as having an idealized or overly formal meaning unless expressly defined as such herein.

[0034] The present disclosure provides an intelligent metasurface unit. Figures 1a to 1c are schematic diagrams of the overall structure of the horizontally and vertically polarized intelligent metasurface unit provided by the present disclosure, and Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the structure of the positive and negative 45-degree polarized intelligent metasurface unit provided by the present disclosure. In combination with Figures 1a to 1c and Figure 2, the intelligent metasurface unit includes a first conductive layer 1, a dielectric layer 2, and a second conductive layer 3. The first conductive layer 1 is located on the first surface of the dielectric layer 2, and the second conductive layer 3 is located on the second surface of the dielectric layer 2, and the second surface is the surface opposite to the first surface. The shape of the first conductive layer 1 includes a first shape 11 and a second shape 12. The first shape 11 is a centrally symmetrical figure, and the second shape 12 extends outward along the edge of the first shape 11, and the second shape 12 is radial.

[0035] The first shape 11 and the second shape 12 have their own resonances at corresponding frequencies. The first shape 11 and the second shape 12 are combined to form the first conductive layer 1. The resonance of the first shape 11 combined with the resonance of the second shape 12 can increase the phase bandwidth. The phase bandwidth can reach a maximum of 40 GHz, thereby forming a terahertz broadband intelligent metasurface unit.

[0036] In some embodiments, to meet dual-polarization requirements, the shape of the first conductive layer 1 is symmetrical about a first symmetry axis 101 and a second symmetry axis 102, with the first symmetry axis 101 and the second symmetry axis 102 being perpendicular to each other. In other words, the shape of the first conductive layer 1 is simultaneously symmetrical about two orthogonal symmetry axes. The orthographic projection of the first symmetry axis 101 or the second symmetry axis 102 on the dielectric layer 2 is parallel to or at a predetermined angle to an edge of the dielectric layer 2.

[0037] The present disclosure provides two dual-polarization schemes: horizontal-vertical polarization and positive-negative 45-degree polarization. As shown in Figures 1a to 1c, the first symmetry axis 101 and the second symmetry axis 102 are parallel to the two adjacent edges of the dielectric layer 2, respectively. This situation is called horizontal-vertical polarization. As shown in Figure 2, the first symmetry axis 101 and the second symmetry axis 102 are respectively at a 45-degree angle to the two adjacent edges of the dielectric layer 2, that is, the first conductive layer 1 in Figure 2 is horizontally rotated 45 degrees relative to the first conductive layer 1 in Figures 1a to 1c. By adjusting the setting direction of the first symmetry axis 101 and the second symmetry axis 102, the orthogonal polarization angle can be adjusted to meet the polarization requirements of different application scenarios.

[0038] Most of the related static intelligent metasurface units are prepared using ion etching technology or photolithography technology, which has high process complexity, high processing cost, and is not conducive to production cost control. The printing process has the advantages of simple process and low cost, but the printing process also has the following limitations: insensitivity to dimensional accuracy, requirements for minimum line width, and insufficient adhesion. In order to adopt a lower-cost printing process, the present disclosure improves the structure of the intelligent metasurface unit, and designs the first conductive layer 1 into a shape that is convenient for process alignment and stable connection, which can improve the alignment tolerance and adhesion, and at the same time, can effectively improve the working bandwidth of the intelligent metasurface unit.

[0039] In the intelligent metasurface unit provided in the present disclosure, the first conductive layer 1 may be a metal layer or a non-metallic conductive layer, and the material of the first conductive layer 1 depends on the preparation process of the first conductive layer 1. The first conductive layer 1 may be prepared by a printing process, and the printing process may include but is not limited to one of the following: screen printing process, PCB (Printed Circuit Board) surface treatment process, inkjet process. If the first conductive layer 1 is prepared by a PCB surface treatment process, the first conductive layer 1 is a metal layer; if the first conductive layer 1 is prepared by an inkjet process, the first conductive layer 1 may be a non-metallic conductive layer. Exemplarily, if an electrofluidic inkjet process is adopted, the first conductive layer 1 is formed by jetting conductive ink, and accordingly, the first conductive layer 1 is a non-metallic conductive layer.

[0040] The smart metasurface unit provided by the present disclosure includes a first conductive layer, a dielectric layer and a second conductive layer, the first conductive layer is located on the first surface of the dielectric layer, the second conductive layer is located on the second surface of the dielectric layer, and the second surface is a surface opposite to the first surface; the shape of the first conductive layer includes a first shape and a second shape, the first shape is a centrally symmetrical figure, the second shape extends outward along the edge of the first shape, and the second shape is radial. The structure of the smart metasurface unit is simple, and the first shape of the first conductive layer can not only increase the alignment tolerance during the preparation process, but also improve the adhesion of the smart metasurface unit, thereby allowing a certain process tolerance and high robustness, which can make up for the defects of the printing process. Accordingly, the printing process can be used for preparation, reducing processing costs and complexity, and facilitating large-scale mass production. In addition, the shape of the first conductive layer formed by the composite of the first shape and the second shape can effectively improve the working bandwidth of the smart metasurface unit, and the combination forms a terahertz broadband smart metasurface unit, which is particularly suitable for practical applications in terahertz frequency band communications.

[0041] In some embodiments, when the first conductive layer 1 is prepared using a printing process, the smart metasurface unit can have a three-layer structure to ensure the printing process is effective. Compared to related smart metasurface unit structures with more than three layers, the three-layer smart metasurface unit provided in the present disclosure has the advantages of a low profile and a smaller volume.

[0042] In some embodiments, the second shape 12 includes at least four even-numbered bar-shaped graphics radiating from the center of symmetry of the central symmetrical figure. Exemplarily, the second shape 12 includes, but is not limited to, a cross and a cross-shaped figure. In order to meet polarization requirements, the number of bar-shaped graphics radiating from the second shape 12 is an even number. In the present disclosure, the second shape 12 in which the bar-shaped graphics are rectangular and four rectangles form a cross is described as an example. It should be noted that the bar-shaped graphics in the second shape 12 can also be triangular, for example, a second shape 12 in which four triangles form a cross and a second shape 12 in which six triangles form a hexagram.

[0043] In the smart metasurface unit provided herein, the first shape 11 includes, but is not limited to, one of the following: a circle, a rectangle, and an ellipse. It should be noted that the first shape 11 can be any shape, as long as it is a closed figure, and the shape and number of the first shape 11 and the second shape 12 match. For example, if the second shape 12 is a cross composed of four triangles, the first shape 11 can be a rectangle; if the second shape 12 is a hexagram composed of six triangles, the first shape 11 can be a hexagon.

[0044] Figure 1a is a schematic structural diagram of a horizontally vertically polarized intelligent metasurface unit provided by the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 1a, the first shape 11 is a circle, and the second shape 12 is a cross figure with a narrower width. Figure 1b is a schematic structural diagram of a horizontally vertically polarized intelligent metasurface unit provided by the present disclosure. Figure 1c is a schematic structural diagram of a horizontally vertically polarized intelligent metasurface unit provided by the present disclosure. The difference between the intelligent metasurface unit structure shown in Figures 1b and 1c and the intelligent metasurface unit structure shown in Figure 1a is that: the shape of the first figure 11 is different. In the intelligent metasurface units shown in Figures 1b and 1c, the first figure 11 is a square. The difference between the intelligent metasurface unit structure shown in Figure 1b and the intelligent metasurface unit structure shown in Figure 1c is that: the setting angle of the first figure 11 is different. The first figure 11 in the intelligent metasurface unit shown in Figure 1b differs by 45 degrees from the first figure 11 in the intelligent metasurface unit shown in Figure 1c.

[0045] In some embodiments, the orthographic projection of the second conductive layer 3 on the dielectric layer 2 completely overlaps with the dielectric layer 2. That is, the second conductive layer 3 is a single-layer structure, covering the entire dielectric layer 2. When the second conductive layer 3 is a single-layer structure, the position of each smart metasurface unit in the first conductive layer 1 does not affect the overall performance of the smart metasurface antenna, and there are no strict alignment requirements for the smart metasurface units, thereby reducing the alignment requirements of the manufacturing process.

[0046] In some embodiments, the second conductive layer 3 may be a metal layer.

[0047] In some embodiments, the thickness of the first conductive layer 1 is greater than the skin depth. For example, the thickness of the first conductive layer 1 can be 0.035 mm. The loss tangent of the dielectric layer 2 affects the phase. The lower the loss tangent, the better the electromagnetic performance of the smart metasurface antenna. In some embodiments, for example, a ROGERS RO3003 dielectric with a dielectric constant of 3.0 and a loss tangent of 0.001 can be selected. The thickness of the dielectric layer 2 can be 0.254 mm. The second conductive layer 3 can be a metal layer and can be 0.035 mm thick.

[0048] In some embodiments, the medium layer 2 may be a flexible medium layer or a rigid medium layer. The material of the flexible medium layer includes but is not limited to: paper, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyimide (PI), etc.

[0049] The present disclosure also provides a smart metasurface antenna, comprising a first smart metasurface unit and a second smart metasurface unit, wherein the first smart metasurface unit is the smart metasurface unit as described above, and the second smart metasurface unit has a different phase from the first smart metasurface unit.

[0050] In some embodiments, the second smart metasurface unit is different from the first smart metasurface unit in at least one of a shape and a size.

[0051] There may be a plurality of first smart metasurface units and second smart metasurface units, and each first smart metasurface unit and each second smart metasurface unit may be arranged in an array according to a preset codebook sequence. Exemplarily, each first smart metasurface unit and each second smart metasurface unit may be arranged in an M*N array, where M and N are integers greater than or equal to 2.

[0052] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of the smart metasurface antenna provided by the present disclosure. As shown in FIG3 , the smart metasurface antenna includes four types of smart metasurface units A, B, C, and D. Smart metasurface unit D is the first smart metasurface unit, and smart metasurface units A, B, and C are the second smart metasurface units. The first conductive layer in smart metasurface unit A is shaped like a square with four corners missing, the first conductive layer in smart metasurface unit B is shaped like a complete square, and the first conductive layer in smart metasurface unit C is shaped like a wide cross.

[0053] Each type of smart metasurface unit corresponds to a digital state. This digital state is achieved by adjusting the size and shape of the smart metasurface unit to achieve different phases for different types of smart metasurface units. When illuminated by horizontally or vertically polarized electromagnetic waves, the phase response of the reflected wave from the smart metasurface unit can cover a 360-degree range.

[0054] In the smart metasurface antenna provided in the present disclosure, the size of the smart metasurface unit refers to the size of the second shape 12, including the length L and the width W. Taking the smart metasurface unit D as an example, as shown in Figure 1b, the length L of the smart metasurface unit D is the length of the cross, and the width W of the smart metasurface unit D is the line width of the cross. The value range of L and W is [0, P], P is the period of the smart metasurface unit D, and the values ​​of L and W are inversely proportional to the phase of the smart metasurface unit D, that is, the larger L and W are, the smaller the phase of the smart metasurface unit D. In some embodiments, the period of the smart metasurface unit D can be 1 mm.

[0055] By adjusting the shape of the smart metasurface unit, the equivalent dielectric constant of the smart metasurface unit can be changed, achieving different relative phases and amplitudes for different types of smart metasurface units. The electromagnetic response of different types of smart metasurface units (primarily the phase response in this disclosure) corresponds to different digital states. The digital state, phase, and size relationships corresponding to the four types of smart metasurface units shown in Figure 1 are shown in Table 1.

[0056] Table 1

[0057] The four digital states are reflected by the electromagnetic responses of different smart metasurface units. The amplitude response curve is shown in Figure 5a, and the phase response curve is shown in Figure 5b. As shown in Figure 5a, the four amplitude response curves 0 to 3 correspond to the above four digital states (0 to 3), and the reflectivity of the four digital states is high and basically lossless. As shown in Figure 5b, the four phase response curves 0 to 3 correspond to the above four digital states 0 to 3, and the phase difference between the four digital states within the bandwidth is about 90 degrees, and the four digital states can be maintained.

[0058] The smart metasurface antenna disclosed herein has a three-layer structure: a conductive layer, a dielectric layer, and a conductive layer. The first conductive layer on the first surface can have a composite shape. By designing the shape, length, and width of the first conductive layer, it can exhibit four different phases under illumination with horizontally or vertically polarized electromagnetic waves, corresponding to four different coded digital states. Arranging different types of smart metasurface units according to different preset codebook sequences can form a two-bit dual-polarized smart metasurface antenna.

[0059] When irradiated by linearly polarized terahertz waves, the smart metasurface antenna can achieve specific beamforming, such as abnormal beam deflection, wide beam coverage, multi-beam, and beam focusing. The above-mentioned various beamforming are achieved by designing codebook sequences with different functions so that each smart metasurface unit is arranged according to the designed codebook sequence.

[0060] In some embodiments, the preset codebook sequence includes one of the following: a codebook sequence corresponding to beamforming that reflects a narrow beam at a preset angle, a codebook sequence corresponding to beamforming that reflects a wide beam at a preset angle, and a codebook sequence corresponding to beamforming that reflects multiple beams at a preset angle.

[0061] In the disclosed embodiments, the codebook sequence can be optimized through an intelligent algorithm to achieve free beamforming, forming a single high-gain narrow beam, a wide beam with wide coverage, or a multi-beam pattern.

[0062] The codebook sequence design standard of the smart metasurface antenna satisfies the following formula (1): θr=sin -1 (λβ / 2πp+sin(θi)) (1)

[0063] θr is the reflection / refraction angle, θi is the incident angle, λ is the wavelength, β is the unit phase difference, and p is the period of the smart metasurface unit.

[0064] The intelligent metasurface antenna provided in the present disclosure is optimized and designed by combining intelligent algorithms to construct far-field radiation patterns to meet specific scenario requirements, such as improving aperture gain and specific angle beam coverage, wide beam coverage, etc. Different metasurfaces can be deployed at low cost according to different demand scenarios to achieve coverage enhancement.

[0065] Figure 6a is a schematic diagram of the codebook distribution of the narrow beam 20-degree reflection provided by the present disclosure, and Figure 7a is a schematic diagram of the codebook distribution of the wide beam 20-degree reflection provided by the present disclosure. As shown in Figures 6a and 7a, each color corresponds to a type of smart metasurface unit. Figure 6b is a two-dimensional far-field pattern of the narrow beam 20-degree reflection provided by the present disclosure, and Figure 7b is a two-dimensional far-field pattern of the wide beam 20-degree reflection provided by the present disclosure. The horizontal axis is θr and the vertical axis is amplitude. Figure 6c is a three-dimensional far-field pattern of the narrow beam 20-degree reflection provided by the present disclosure, and Figure 7c is a three-dimensional far-field pattern of the wide beam 20-degree reflection provided by the present disclosure. The angle between the maximum beam and the normal in the smart metasurface antenna with narrow beam 20-degree reflection is 20 degrees. Figure 8 is the codebook distribution and three-dimensional far-field pattern of four beams with vertical incidence provided by the present disclosure.

[0066] Figure 9 is a schematic diagram of the structure of the flexible medium smart metasurface antenna provided by the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 9, the dielectric layer 2 is a flexible dielectric layer. High-definition conductive inks such as nanosilver, carbon nanotubes, or graphene can be used with electrofluidic inkjet to print patterns of the first conductive layer 1 and the second conductive layer 3 on two opposing surfaces of the flexible dielectric layer, forming the electromagnetic control film of the smart metasurface antenna. This film can conform to any surface and can be attached to any surface, achieving excellent surface flatness.

[0067] The present disclosure overcomes the high production cost of smart metasurface antennas in related technologies by providing a low-profile, low-cost smart metasurface antenna, offering significant and important advantages in cost control. The smart metasurface antenna can be a static smart metasurface antenna, which also has the advantage of low power consumption.

[0068] The intelligent metasurface antenna provided by this disclosure can be manufactured through a printing process. Low-cost printing processes include, but are not limited to, PCB surface treatment processes, screen printing processes, and electrofluid inkjet processes. It has the advantages of low cost, ease of production, corrosion resistance, and resistance to physical wear. To enable the use of low-precision, low-cost printing processes, this disclosure implements a position tolerance design for the structure of the intelligent metasurface antenna, allowing for a certain process tolerance and eliminating the need for position accuracy. Even if process errors occur, their electromagnetic performance is not affected. This design is highly robust and has advantages in mass production. It has broad engineering application prospects in the fields of terahertz sensing and imaging and mobile communications.

[0069] The intelligent metasurface antenna disclosed herein has a simple structural design and strong universality. It can be fabricated using either printing or conventional photolithography processes, making it easy to mass-produce. The intelligent metasurface antenna disclosed herein is frequency-independent and can be extended to microwave, millimeter-wave, infrared, and even higher frequency bands by scaling the pattern of the first conductive layer.

[0070] The present disclosure also provides a communication device, including the aforementioned smart metasurface antenna. The communication device may be a mobile base station, applicable to B5G and 6G frequency bands.

[0071] The communication device provided by the present disclosure includes a smart metasurface antenna, which includes a first smart metasurface unit and a second smart metasurface unit. The first smart metasurface unit includes a first conductive layer, a dielectric layer, and a second conductive layer. The first conductive layer is located on a first surface of the dielectric layer, and the second conductive layer is located on a second surface of the dielectric layer, the second surface being a surface opposite to the first surface. The shape of the first conductive layer includes a first shape and a second shape. The first shape is a centrally symmetrical figure, and the second shape extends outward along the edge of the first shape, and the second shape is radial. The second smart metasurface unit has a different phase from the first smart metasurface unit. The smart metasurface antenna has a simple structure. The first shape of the first conductive layer can not only increase the alignment tolerance during the preparation process, but also improve the adhesion of the smart metasurface unit, thereby allowing a certain process tolerance and having high robustness. It can compensate for the defects of the printing process. Accordingly, it can be prepared using a printing process, reducing processing cost and complexity, and facilitating large-scale mass production. In addition, the shape of the first conductive layer formed by the composite of the first shape and the second shape can effectively improve the working bandwidth of the smart metasurface unit, and the combination forms a terahertz broadband smart metasurface unit, which is particularly suitable for practical applications of terahertz frequency band communications.

[0072] The present disclosure also provides a method for preparing a smart metasurface antenna, which includes the following steps S11 to S12, as shown in FIG10 and FIG4 .

[0073] In step S11, a pattern of a first conductive layer is formed on the first surface of the dielectric layer through a printing process. The pattern of the first conductive layer includes a first shape and a second shape. The first shape is a centrally symmetrical figure, and the second shape extends outward along the edge of the first shape and is radial.

[0074] In some embodiments, the printing process includes one of the following: a screen printing process, a PCB surface treatment process, and an inkjet process.

[0075] Step S12 , forming a second conductive layer on a second surface of the dielectric layer, where the second surface is a surface opposite to the first surface.

[0076] In some embodiments, a second conductive layer 3 is formed on the entire second surface of the dielectric layer 2, i.e., the second conductive layer 3 completely covers the dielectric layer 2. The second conductive layer 3 can be a metal layer. Accordingly, the second conductive layer 3 can be formed on the second surface of the dielectric layer 2 using a printing process, or using relevant ion etching technology or photolithography technology. It should be noted that the order of executing steps S11 and S12 is not limited. That is, the first conductive layer 1 can be formed first, or the second conductive layer 3 can be formed first.

[0077] In the preparation method of the intelligent metasurface antenna provided by the present invention, the first shape 11 of the first conductive layer 1 can not only increase the alignment tolerance during the preparation process, but also improve the adhesion of the intelligent metasurface unit, thereby allowing a certain process tolerance and having high robustness, which can make up for the defects of the printing process. Accordingly, the printing process can be used for preparation, which reduces processing costs and complexity and facilitates large-scale mass production.

[0078] In some embodiments, the inkjet process includes an electrofluidic inkjet process, and the forming of a pattern of the first conductive layer on the first surface of the dielectric layer by a printing process (i.e., step S11) includes the following steps: spraying conductive ink to each preset position on the first surface of the dielectric layer to form a pattern of the first conductive layer.

[0079] In some embodiments, the conductive ink includes one of the following: nanosilver ink, carbon nanotube ink, and graphene ink.

[0080] In related technologies, the fabrication of terahertz smart metasurface antennas primarily relies on costly and complex processes such as micro-nanotechnology and photolithography, which are often complex and difficult to implement. The present invention provides a method for fabricating smart metasurface antennas based on printing processes, including but not limited to PCB surface treatment, screen printing, and electrofluid inkjet technology. This method eliminates the need for any electronic devices or semiconductor materials within the smart metasurface, eliminates complex control circuits, and offers a simple unit structure, resulting in a low profile, low cost, ease of mass production, and scalability.

[0081] It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that all or some of the steps in the method disclosed above, and the functional modules / units in the device can be implemented as software, firmware, hardware, and appropriate combinations thereof. In a hardware implementation, the division between the functional modules / units mentioned in the above description does not necessarily correspond to the division of physical components; for example, a physical component may have multiple functions, or a function or step may be performed by several physical components in cooperation. Some or all physical components may be implemented as software executed by a processor (such as a central processing unit, a digital signal processor, or a microprocessor), or implemented as hardware, or implemented as an integrated circuit, such as an application-specific integrated circuit. Such software may be distributed on a computer-readable medium, which may include a computer storage medium (or non-transitory medium) and a communication medium (or temporary medium). As is well known to those skilled in the art, the term computer storage medium includes volatile and non-volatile, removable, and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storing information (such as computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data). Computer storage media include, but are not limited to, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (DVD) or other optical disk storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to store the desired information and can be accessed by a computer. In addition, it is well known to those skilled in the art that communication media generally embodies computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data in a modulated data signal such as a carrier wave or other transport mechanism, and may include any information delivery media.

[0082] Example embodiments have been disclosed herein, and although specific terms are employed, they are used and should be interpreted only in a general illustrative sense and not for purposes of limitation. In some instances, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that, unless otherwise expressly stated, features, characteristics, and / or elements described in conjunction with a particular embodiment may be used alone or in combination with features, characteristics, and / or elements described in conjunction with other embodiments. Therefore, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and detail may be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure as set forth in the appended claims.

Claims

1. A smart metasurface unit, comprising a first conductive layer, a dielectric layer and a second conductive layer, wherein the first conductive layer is located on a first surface of the dielectric layer, the second conductive layer is located on a second surface of the dielectric layer, and the second surface is a surface opposite to the first surface; The shape of the first conductive layer includes a first shape and a second shape, the first shape is a centrally symmetrical figure, the second shape extends outward along an edge of the first shape, and the second shape is radial.

2. The smart metasurface unit according to claim 1, wherein: The second shape includes at least four even-numbered strip-shaped patterns radiating from the symmetry center of the central symmetric pattern.

3. The smart metasurface unit according to claim 1, wherein: The first shape includes one of the following: circle, rectangle, ellipse.

4. The smart metasurface unit according to claim 1, wherein: The orthographic projection of the second conductive layer on the dielectric layer completely overlaps with the dielectric layer.

5. The smart metasurface unit according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein: The dielectric layer is a flexible dielectric layer or a rigid dielectric layer.

6. A smart metasurface antenna, comprising a first smart metasurface unit and a second smart metasurface unit, wherein the first smart metasurface unit is the smart metasurface unit described in any one of claims 1 to 5, and the second smart metasurface unit has a different phase from the first smart metasurface unit.

7. The smart metasurface antenna according to claim 6, wherein: The second smart metasurface unit is different from the first smart metasurface unit in at least one of a shape and a size.

8. The smart metasurface antenna according to claim 7, wherein: The first intelligent metasurface units and the second intelligent metasurface units are arranged in an array according to a preset codebook sequence.

9. The smart metasurface antenna according to claim 8, wherein: The preset codebook sequence includes one of the following: a codebook sequence corresponding to beamforming that reflects a narrow beam at a preset angle, a codebook sequence corresponding to beamforming that reflects a wide beam at a preset angle, and a codebook sequence corresponding to beamforming that reflects multiple beams at a preset angle.

10. A communication device, comprising the smart metasurface antenna according to any one of claims 6 to 9.

11. A method for preparing a smart metasurface antenna, comprising: A pattern of a first conductive layer is formed on the first surface of the dielectric layer by a printing process, wherein the pattern of the first conductive layer includes The first shape includes a first shape and a second shape, wherein the first shape is a centrally symmetrical figure, the second shape extends outwardly along an edge of the first shape, and the second shape is radially shaped; A second conductive layer is formed on a second surface of the dielectric layer, where the second surface is a surface opposite to the first surface.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein: The printing process includes one of the following: screen printing process, printed circuit board PCB surface treatment process, inkjet process.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein: In the case where the printing process is an inkjet process, the inkjet process includes an electrofluidic inkjet process, and forming a pattern of the first conductive layer on the first surface of the dielectric layer by the printing process includes: Conductive ink is sprayed onto each preset position on the first surface of the dielectric layer to form a pattern of the first conductive layer.

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