Composites, methods, and applications for magnetodielectrics

Abstract

A magnetodielectric composite material includes a first layer and a second layer. The first layer defines a first high permittivity material. The first layer defines a first layer first side and a first layer second side. The second layer defines a second high permittivity material. The second layer defines a second layer first side and a second layer second side. The second layer second side interfaces with the first layer second side. The second high permittivity material defines a characteristic impedance within a factor of 50 of the first high permittivity material. The first high permittivity material has a greater index of refraction than the second high permittivity material.

Description

COMPOSITES, METHODS, AND APPLICATIONS FOR MAGNETODIELECTRICSCROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Serial No. 63 / 663,588, filed June 24, 2024, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.BACKGROUND

[0002] In general, substrates and lenses for electromagnetic applications reflect more energy, at a wider range of angles of incidence, as the index of refraction increases. Typically, only electrical permittivity is increased to increase the index of refraction of a substrate or lens, but increasing only the permittivity causes increased reflections at the air-substrate or air-lens interface. Sometimes metamaterial and metamaterial-inspired methods are used, but they often use highly conductive materials which greatly increase losses. Improvements in the field of magnetodielectric materials are needed.SUMMARY

[0003] In some embodiments, and by non-limiting example, the present disclosure relates to composites, methods, and applications for high index magnetodielectrics.

[0004] In some embodiments, and by non-limiting example, a magnetodielectric composite material includes a first layer and a second layer. The first layer defines a first high permittivity material. The first layer defines a first layer first side and a first layer second side. The second layer defines a second high permittivity material. The second layer defines a second layer first side and a second layer second side. The second layer second side interfaces with the first layer second side. The second high permittivity material defines a characteristic impedance within a factor of 50 of the first high permittivity material. The first high permittivity material has a greater index of refraction than the second high permittivity material.

[0005] In some embodiments, and by non-limiting example, a magnetodielectric composite material includes a plurality of layers in a stacked configuration. The plurality of layers includes an exterior layer, a plurality of inner layers, and an interior layer. The exterior layer has an impedance within an order of magnitude of an impedance of air. Theexterior layer has an index of refraction within an order of magnitude of an index of refraction of air. The exterior layer neighbors, and interfaces with, the plurality of inner layers at an exterior region. The interior layer neighbors, and interfaces with, the plurality of inner layers at an interior region. Each layer has an index of refraction within an order of magnitude of each neighboring layer. The plurality of layers defines a gradient of index of refraction such that the index of refraction through the composite material increases at each layer from the exterior layer to the interior layer.

[0006] In some embodiments, and by non-limiting example, a magnetodielectric composite material includes a first layer and a second layer. The first layer defines a first high permeability material. The first layer defines a first layer first side and a first layer second side. The second layer defines a second high permeability material. The second layer defines a second layer first side and a second layer second side. The second layer second side interfaces with the first layer second side. The second high permeability material defines a characteristic impedance within a factor of 50 of the first high permittivity material. The first high permeability material has a greater index of refraction than the second high permeability material.

[0007] In some embodiments, and by non-limiting example, a magnetodielectric composite material includes a plurality of layers in a stacked configuration. The plurality of layers includes a first layer, a plurality of inner layers, and a last layer. The first layer has a ratio of permittivity over permeability that is greater than 50. The last layer has a ratio of permittivity over permeability that is equal to 1. Each of the plurality of inner layers is stacked in order of decreasing ratio of permittivity to permeability such that the ratio of permittivity to permeability steps down from the first layer to the last layer.

[0008] In some embodiments, and by non-limiting example, an electromagnetic wave antenna includes a high permittivity composite and a conductor. The composite defines a plurality of layers stacked from an exterior to an interior. Each layer has an increasing index of refraction from the exterior to the interior. The conductor contacts the high permittivity composite at the interior.

[0009] In some embodiments, and by non-limiting example, an electromagnetic wave antenna includes a high permeability composite and a conductor. The composite defines a plurality of layers stacked from an exterior to an interior. Each layer has an increasing index of refraction from the exterior to the interior. The conductor contacts the high permeability composite at the interior.

[0010] In some embodiments, and by non-limiting example, an electromagnetic wave antenna includes a composite and a conductor. The composite includes at least one layer. The composite has an exterior side and an interior side. The composite has an index of refraction within an order of magnitude of an index of refraction of air. The conductor contacts the composite at the interior side of the composite. The conductor has a conical shape. The composite surrounds an exterior of the conductor.

[0011] In some embodiments, and by non-limiting example, an electromagnetic wave antenna includes a high-index, low-loss metamaterial and a conductor. The metamaterial defines at least one resonator. The at least one resonator has an effective index of refraction less than 1 about a first direction. The conductor has a conical shape. The resonator surrounds an exterior of the conductor. The first direction is angled relative to the exterior of the conductor.

[0012] In some embodiments, and by non-limiting example, an electromagnetic wave antenna includes a high permeability and high permittivity ferrite metamaterial and a conductor. The metamaterial defines at least one resonator. The at least one resonator has an index of refraction less than 1 about a first direction. The conductor has a conical shape. The resonator surrounds an exterior of the conductor. The first direction is angled relative to the exterior of the conductor.

[0013] In some embodiments, and by non-limiting example, an electromagnetic wave antenna includes an antenna body, a metamaterial, and a conductor. The antenna body defines a horn body. The horn body defines an interior space. The horn body defines a forward end and a rearward end. The forward end is open to send or receive signals. The metamaterial is positioned within the interior space of the horn body. The metamaterial defines at least one resonator. The at least one resonator has an index of refraction less than 1 about a first axis. The first axis extends from the forward end to the rearward end. The conductor is positioned at the rearward end of the horn body.

[0014] In some embodiments, and by non-limiting example, an electromagnetic wave antenna includes an antenna body, a multi-layer composite, and a conductor. The antenna body defines a horn body. The horn body defines an interior space. The horn body defines a forward end and a rearward end. The forward end is open to send or receive signals. The composite is positioned within the interior space of the horn body. The composite defines a first layer, a plurality of inner layers, and a last layer. The first layer has an index of refraction greater than 1,000. The last layer has an index of refraction that isequal to 1. Each of the plurality of inner layers is stacked in order of decreasing index of refraction such that the index of refraction steps down from the first layer to the last layer. The conductor is positioned at the rearward end of the horn body.

[0015] In some embodiments, and by non-limiting example, an electromagnetic wave Luneberg lens includes a multilayer composite. The composite surrounds a central energy source. The composite has an inner layer, at least one intermediate layer, and an outer layer. The outer layer has an index of refraction at or near 1. The inner layer has an index of refraction of at least 100. Each layer of the Luneberg lens is made of a ferrite material. The at least one intermediate layer positioned between the inner layer and the outer layer. Each layer of the Luneberg lens has an increasing index of refraction from the outer layer to the inner layer. The central energy source capable of emitting energy through the Luneberg lens.

[0016] In some embodiments, and by non-limiting example, an electromagnetic wave Luneberg lens includes a multilayer composite surrounding a central energy source. The composite has an inner layer, at least one intermediate layer, and an outer layer. The outer layer has an index of refraction at or near 1. The inner layer having an index of refraction of at least 1,000. The at least one intermediate layer positioned between the inner layer and the outer layer. Each layer of the Luneberg lens made of a high permittivity material. Each layer of the Luneberg lens having an increasing index of refraction from the outer layer to the inner layer. The central energy source capable of emitting energy through the Luneberg lens.

[0017] In some embodiments, and by non-limiting example, an electromagnetic wave waveguide includes a first material and a second material. The first material defines a wave path. The second material surrounds at least a portion of the first material. The second material defines a reflection surface at an interface between the first material and the second material. The second material has an index of refraction at least two orders of magnitude less than the first material. The reflection surface preventing a wave from escaping the wave path.

[0018] In some embodiments, and by non-limiting example, a directed energy system includes an antenna array, a capacitor array, a power plant, and a control panel. The antenna array includes a plurality of antennas. Each antenna includes a conductor and a layered composite. Each layer of the composite has a different index of refraction. The layered composite includes an outer layer, a plurality of middle layers, and an inner layer.The outer layer interfaces with air and has an index of refraction of 1. The inner layer has an index of refraction of at least 1,000. The capacitor array is connected to the antenna array. The capacitor array is designed to hold charge and discharge an amount of energy sufficient to power the antenna array. The power plant is connected to the capacitor array. The power plant is designed to produce sufficient energy to charge the capacitor array. The control panel is designed to control the directed energy system. The control panel is capable of directing the power plant to charge the capacitor array. The control panel is capable of discharging the capacitor array. The control panel is capable of aiming the antenna array.

[0019] In some embodiments, and by non-limiting example, a wireless power system includes a transmitter system and a receiver system. The transmitter system includes a transmit antenna, an oscillator, an amplifier, and a phase matching system. The transmit antenna includes a conductor and a layered composite. Each layer of the composite has a different index of refraction. The layered composite includes an outer layer, a plurality of middle layers, and an inner layer. The outer layer interfaces with air and having an index of refraction of 1. The inner layer has an index of refraction of at least 1,000. The oscillator is capable of producing a carrier frequency that can be amplified by the amplifier. The phase matching system is capable of matching the impedance and phase of the carrier frequency. The transmit antenna is capable of transmitting the carrier frequency coming from the phase matching system. The receiver system includes a receiver antenna, an impedance matching system, an AC / DC converter, and a battery. The receiver antenna is capable of receiving a signal from the transmit antenna. The receiver antenna is capable of sending the received signal through the impedance matching system, the AC / DC converter, and eventually to the battery. The battery is capable of being charged by the received signal. The transmitter system is physically separated from the receiver system.

[0020] In some embodiments, and by non-limiting example, a propulsion system includes a ground station and a vehicle. The ground station includes a first antenna array, a second antenna array, and a ground sensor system. The first and second antenna arrays each include a plurality of antennas. Each antenna includes a conductor and a layered composite. Each layer of the composite has a different index of refraction. The layered composite includes an outer layer, a plurality of middle layers, and an inner layer. The outer layer interfaces with air and having an index of refraction of 1. The inner layer hasan index of refraction of at least 1,000. The vehicle includes a first vehicle antenna array, a second vehicle antenna array, and a vehicle sensor system. The first vehicle antenna array is capable of conjugately matching incident and induced fields transmitted by either the first antenna array or the second antenna array. The second vehicle antenna array is capable of conjugately matching incident and induced fields transmitted by either the first antenna array or the second antenna array. The vehicle sensor system is capable of sending and receiving information with the ground sensor system.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] FIG. l is a representation of a first example composite material in accordance with the principles of the present disclosure.

[0022] FIG. 2 is a representation of a second example composite material in accordance with the principles of the present disclosure.

[0023] FIG. 3 is a representation of a third example composite material in accordance with the principles of the present disclosure.

[0024] FIG. 4 is a focused representation of the third example composite material of FIG. 3.

[0025] FIG. 5 is a simplified representation of an example antenna in accordance with the principles of the present disclosure.

[0026] FIG. 6 is a simplified representation of another example antenna in accordance with the principles of the present disclosure.

[0027] FIG. 7 is a simplified representation of another example antenna in accordance with the principles of the present disclosure.

[0028] FIG. 8 is a simplified representation of another example antenna in accordance with the principles of the present disclosure.

[0029] FIG. 9 is a simplified representation of another example antenna in accordance with the principles of the present disclosure.

[0030] FIG. 10 is a simplified cross-sectional representation of another example antenna in accordance with the principles of the present disclosure.

[0031] FIG. 11 is a simplified cross-sectional representation of another example antenna in accordance with the principles of the present disclosure.

[0032] FIG. 12 is a simplified cross-sectional representation of another example antenna in accordance with the principles of the present disclosure.

[0033] FIG. 13 is a simplified representation of an example metamaterial in accordance with the principles of the present disclosure.

[0034] FIG. 14 is a simplified cross-sectional representation of another example antenna in accordance with the principles of the present disclosure.

[0035] FIG. 15 is a simplified cross-sectional representation of another example antenna in accordance with the principles of the present disclosure.

[0036] FIG. 16 is a simplified cross-sectional representation of an example Luneberg lens in accordance with the principles of the present disclosure.

[0037] FIG. 17 is a simplified cross-sectional representation of an example waveguide in accordance with the principles of the present disclosure.

[0038] FIG. 18 is a first simplified representation of an example directed energy system in accordance with the principles of the present disclosure.

[0039] FIG. 19 is a second simplified representation, shown as a top view, of the example directed energy system of FIG. 18.

[0040] FIG. 20 is a third simplified representation, shown as a side view, of the example directed energy system of FIG. 18.

[0041] FIG. 21 is a simplified representation of an example remote power system in accordance with the principles of the present disclosure.

[0042] FIG. 22 is a simplified representation of an example propulsion system in accordance with the principles of the present disclosure.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0043] Various embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals represent like parts and assemblies throughout the several views. Reference to various embodiments does not limit the scope of the claims attached hereto. Additionally, any examples set forth in this specification are not intended to be limiting and merely set forth some of the many possible embodiments for the appended claims.

[0044] Aspects of the present disclosure relate to techniques for reducing the physical size of radio antennas, waveguides, lenses, sources, inductors, capacitors, transmission lines, reflectors, and receivers for a particular electrical size while maintaining high- efficiency of energy transfer to and from an antenna. The substrates and lenses may also be used to focus electromagnetic waves, combine multiple electromagnetic waves tofocus energy or achieve particular effects, such as a very low frequency signal at a location or achieve an effective continuous DC field by combining appropriate power series components of square waves with non-reciprocal composite effects in some cases.

[0045] Aspects of the present disclosure relate to natural magnetodielectrics, metamaterials, or metamaterial-inspired elements which maximize the energy transfer from a composite to another material and vice versa. Aspects of the present disclosure relate to methods for efficient energy transfer. Aspects of the present disclosure relate to techniques for achieving indices-of-refraction greater than 10,000 with permeability and permittivity relatively close in value using conductive ferrite materials or conductive ferrite materials combined with high permittivity materials. Aspects of the present disclosure relate to using conductive ferrite materials or conductive ferrite materials combined with high permittivity materials as the antenna element itself. Aspects of the present disclosure relate to using low-conductivity ferrite materials or low-conductivity ferrite materials combined with high permittivity materials as the antenna element itself. Aspects of the present disclosure relate to using low-conductivity ferrite materials with the antenna element. Aspects of the present disclosure relate to using low-conductivity high permittivity materials with the antenna element.

[0046] Aspects of the present disclosure relate to new techniques for achieving high energy transfer across a boundary between a composite and air, or other material. Aspects of the present disclosure are directed to Brewster angle methods for high index magnetodielectrics applicable to numerous applications. Aspects of the present disclosure relate to the use of these energy transfer techniques in several example applications by methods which achieve Brewster angles at the boundary between the composite and other material.

[0047] Aspects of the present disclosure relate generally to high-index magnetodielectric substrates, antennas, waveguides, reflectors, transmission lines, and lenses for electromagnetic applications. The electromagnetic applications include any application in which the electromagnetic near-field may be extended to long distances, including, but not limited to, wireless power, communications, electromagnetic propulsion, electromagnetic armor, artificial magnetospheres, nuclear fusion magnetic confinement, improved Magnetic Resonance Imagers (MRI), directed energy systems, medical implants, cell phones, microscopy, radar, detection of electromagnetic signals, radio telescopes, and other applications.

[0048] Aspects of the present disclosure describes techniques for designing efficient electromagnetic composites using high-index magnetodielectrics in which the relative electrical permittivity is high and relatively close in value to the relative magnetic permeability and their use in several applications. For purposes of the present disclosure, relatively close means being within a ratio factor of 50 or less difference between the two property (permittivity and permeability) relative values for an isotropic material and differences for anisotropic materials to meet particular conditions as described below.

[0049] The natural magnetodielectrics, metamaterials, and metamaterial-inspired elements are generally referred to as composite materials. Natural magnetodielectrics are materials whose inherent design incorporates a magnetic permeability combined with an electric permittivity to achieve particular performance characteristics for antennas, waveguides, reflectors, transmission lines and lenses such as is described in the present disclosure. Natural magnetodielectrics may exhibit isotropic or anisotropic behavior for electromagnetic waves traversing the magnetodielectric. Isotropic materials have the same propagation characteristics in all propagation directions within the material for each orientation of the electric and / or magnetic fields. Anisotropic materials do not have the same propagation characteristics in all propagation directions and / or for each orientation of the electric and / or magnetic fields. Propagation direction here is understood to be the electromagnetic near-field or the electromagnetic far-field.

[0050] The present disclosure describes a method for composites using ferrites which exhibits both high permittivity matched to high permeability which are compatible with standard ferrite sintering processes for their use in antennas, waveguides, reflectors, lenses, etc. These devices have many applications including wireless power, directed energy systems, and propulsion. Standard low-cost ferrite manufacturing methods, for example sintering, are used to make a ferrite which achieves high index of refraction with permeability approximating permittivity.

[0051] Ferrites made using standard sintering processes may exhibit the desired properties of high permeability with a similar high permittivity across a range of frequencies. The standard processes for making such ferrites includes mixing the base materials which may include Manganese and Zinc or Nickel and Zinc and other materials. The mixed materials are pressed into a particular shape and then placed in a sintering oven in a controlled atmosphere to improve the contact between the microscopic elements and sometimes to burn off any impurities. The resulting ferrite may exhibit both highpermeability combined with a similarly high permittivity over a range of frequencies. Some ferrites, especially those with permeabilities greater than 10,000 also exhibit high conductivity enabling them to be used as an active antenna element or a portion of the active antenna element replacing copper or other metals which are often used. Such conductive ferrites may be combined with similarly high or low permittivity subwavelength sized materials in order to achieve a particular natural or artificial effective permittivity and permeability over a particular frequency range.

[0052] In general, as the index of refraction of a material increases, the interface between air and the magnetodielectric becomes more reflective, or lossy if only one of permittivity or permeability increases. One cause of the loss of energy transfer is the mismatch in characteristic impedance of the materials. For example, air has a characteristic impedance of 377 Ohms which would not be the same characteristic impedance of a material in which only one of permeability or permittivity, is increased. By matching the relative permeability with permittivity near the air-composite boundary, the characteristic impedance of the material may be made similar in value to the 377 Ohm characteristic impedance of air. By the relative material properties being similar, an impedance match between the materials occurs which enables energy to transfer from one material to the other.

[0053] It should be noted that the characteristic impedance of a magnetodielectric of 377 Ohms may also be achieved with a significant mis-match of material property values. For example, the combination of two lossy materials may be used to achieve an effective characteristic impedance near 377 Ohms, or the impedance of another material to which energy transfer is desirable.

[0054] In certain embodiments of composite based applications, the wave impedance of the near-field may be matched to successive layers using composites whose ratio of permeability to permittivity is higher than 1, such as up to 100. The wave impedance of the near-field is very high for electric field near-fields (e.g., 2500 Ohms) and very low for magnetic near-fields (e.g., 40 Ohms) with both gradually converging on 377 Ohms as the fields transition to the far-field. Because the impedance is defined as the square root of permeability divided by permittivity, for antenna predominantly using electric fields, composites with permeability significantly higher than permittivity may be used to match the impedance of the near-field in space. For a predominantly electric field near-field antenna whose wave impedance is 2500 Ohms very close to the antenna, a permeability44 times the permittivity provides a match to the wave impedance. By use of successive layers of materials whose ratio of permeability to permittivity gradually reduces to 1, the wave impedance of the near-field is matched to maximize energy transfer efficiency. Conversely, for an antenna which predominantly produces magnetic fields, successive layers of composite whose ratio of permeability to permittivity is less than 1 close to the antenna, but gradually increases to a value close to 1 at the final layer touching air, enables high efficiency transfer of near-field energy to air. From this, it may be seen that there are sometimes advantages for high efficiency energy transfer using high index materials in which the permittivity is not matched to the permeability for some layers or portions of the substrate, lens, transmission line, antenna, reflector, etc. In one example, a composite material is formed of ten layers where a first layer has a ratio of permittivity / permeability of 44, a second layer has a ratio of permittivity / permeability of 34, a third layer has a ratio of permittivity / permeability of 26, a fourth layer has a ratio of permittivity / permeability of 20, a fifth layer has a ratio of permittivity / permeability of 15, a sixth layer has a ratio of permittivity / permeability of 11, a seventh layer has a ratio of permittivity / permeability of 9, an eighth layer has a ratio of permittivity / permeability of 7, a ninth layer has a ratio of permittivity / permeability of 4.5, and a tenth layer has a ratio of permittivity / permeability of 1. The tenth layer matches the impedance of air where the permittivity and permeability are equal.

[0055] Metamaterials are artificial materials that, in certain embodiments, include interstitial material having inclusions. The interstitial material and the inclusions in embodiments each have at least one of select relative permittivity property values and select relative permeability property values. Metamaterials have a three-dimensional periodic cellular architecture designed to produce a response to a specific excitation that would not be available in naturally occurring elements such as natural magnetodielectrics. In particular, metamaterials have unusual electromagnetic properties that may result in negative permittivity, negative permeability and / or negative index of refraction that are controlled by the design of the material. Natural media with a magnetic permeability of greater than one and electrical permittivity greater than one, refracts electromagnetic energy onto the opposite side of a surface normal at the boundary between materials with positive indices of refraction such as air and natural material in the customary manner. However, metamaterials with a magnetic permeability less than zero and electricalpermittivity less than zero, refract electromagnetic energy onto the same side of normal at the boundary between the surfaces.

[0056] By refracting an electromagnetic wave onto the same side of the surface normal, a much stronger refraction event occurs than can be achieved by refractions in other natural materials, and unique electromagnetic antennas, lenses, waveguides, and reflectors may be developed, which are not possible using materials that only possess a positive index of refraction.

[0057] Traditional metamaterial techniques generally refer to using sub -wavelength sized resonators to achieve effective relative electrical permittivity and effective relative magnetic permeability, including effective negative properties, but also effective permeability near zero for one or both permittivity and / or permeability.

[0058] Metamaterial-inspired techniques refer to the use of sub -wavelength sized elements to achieve relative permittivity other than values of negative one and effective relative permeability other than values of negative one. For metamaterial-inspired techniques, if one parameter is negative then the other is sometimes negative in order to prevent excessive losses. In some applications, the goal is to achieve positive properties for both permittivity and permeability, for example, enhancing the natural relative values to a higher effective relative value. Metamaterial and metamaterial-inspired techniques sometimes differ from using the natural permittivity and permeability of materials because both techniques may utilize sub -wavelength sized resonators to achieve particular effective properties instead of the inherent material properties to achieve the effective material properties. In some applications, natural magnetodielectrics may be used as the constituent materials for the metamaterial.

[0059] In some embodiments of antennas, lenses, waveguides, and reflector applications, a portion of the application may be metamaterial, another portion may be metamaterial-inspired, and other portions may be natural materials, depending upon the system requirements. Some embodiments of the described composite materials are made to have high permittivity and high permeability. Moreover, some embodiments provide composite materials with effective characteristic impedance that closely matches that of air. The effective characteristic impedance that closely matches air is achieved in embodiments by making the relative permeability and permittivity properties of the material relatively close in value (i.e., high-index) or by combining lossy materials. By matching the material to the characteristic impedance of air, the composite is impedancematched with the air, which allows more energy to transfer between air and the composite than would occur otherwise.

[0060] Another factor impeding the transfer of energy across the boundary between a magnetodielectric and other material such as air is the Brewster angle. Highly efficient energy transfer also requires that energy be transferred near or at a Brewster angle between the composite and air or other material, or that the composite be designed in such a way that the effective Brewster angle occurs at one or multiple angles, or a wide range of angles, or at all angles. The Brewster angle is the angle of incidence of the energy at the boundary between two materials which enables efficient energy transfer across the boundary. A source of energy, such as a transmitting radio antenna, or a receiver of energy, such as a receiving radio antenna would have increased efficiency of energy transfer across a boundary between a magnetodielectric and air by designing the antenna so the fields incident on the composite-air boundary occurs near the Brewster angle or angles. Improved energy transfer to and from a magnetodielectric to air may be accomplished by designing an antenna or waveguide reflector, any substrate material on which the antenna or waveguide reflector is mounted, or any lens material so at least some of the energy approaches the interface near a Brewster angle or angles at the optimum polarization.

[0061] The Brewster angles for magnetodielectrics are known for isotropic magnetodielectrics in which the propagation of electromagnetic energy, such as radio waves, behaves the same no matter the direction of propagation for a particular polarization. It is known by those familiar with the state of the art that certain types of conductors are available which confine electric fields to one polarization which helps to simplify the design of antennas, waveguides, reflectors, transmission lines, and other electromagnetic components by forcing electromagnetic fields to polarizations which provide maximum energy transfer.

[0062] The Brewster angles for magnetodielectrics are also known for anisotropic magnetodielectrics in which the propagation of electromagnetic energy varies depending upon the direction of propagation of the energy in the material. For example, the reference (“Brewster Angle for Anisotropic Materials from the Extinction Theorem”, W. Shu, Z. Ren, H. Luo, F. Li, App. Phys. A, 87, 297, 2007), which describes the conditions over which a Brewster angle may be achieved for effectively anisotropic materials including conditions where the Brewster angle occurs at all angles, reducing theimpedance matching requirement of isotropic materials with the added benefit of being able to transfer energy to a wide range of angles at high efficiency. The composite may also interface with other materials instead of air, such as a radome. In this way, the interface between a source or sink of electromagnetic energy may be customized to maximize the energy transfer at each point along the interface regardless of field orientations at the interface. For example, for an anisotropic material, the Brewster angle for a geometry as shown in FIG. 13 occurs in an isotropic way, at all angles, when the relative permittivity along the y-axis direction divided by the relative permeability in the x-axis direction equals one, while the permeability along the x-axis direction times the relative permeability along the z-axis direction is equal to the square of the permeability of free-space for transverse electric (TE) electromagnetic energy propagating along the XZ plane. Using these methods, the interface may be designed so electromagnetic energy propagating in any direction may have any field orientation and efficiently cross the boundary between the composite and air or other material. In other words, the Brewster angle may be made omni-directional, or nearly omni-directional.

[0063] Similarly, for a transverse magnetic (TM) electromagnetic energy propagating along the XZ plane, the Brewster angle may be made omni-directional or nearly omnidirectional when the following conditions are met:

[0064] In the formula above, pyrepresents the permeability along the Y-axis direction and Gx represents the permittivity along the X-axis direction. For example, for a composite with a relative Gx= relative py= 1000 the first criteria is met in which the impedance of free space is matched. For the second condition to be met, the Gz = 1 / 1000 = 0.001, very close to zero which is only possible with a metamaterial-inspired resonator operating near resonance. In such a case, energy is stored and released at intervals which results in an effectively near-zero z-directed permittivity. For TE mode fields, the permittivity is replaced in the second relationship with permeability, so for px= 1000, pz= 1 / 1000 or approximately zero which again may only be achieved using metamaterial- inspired methods. The low-losses and low-conductivity of high-index magnetodielectrics make them very low-loss in comparison to traditional metamaterials made using metals. An example of a substrate with a high permittivity and permeability in the x and y directions and close to zero in the z directions would be a TM-TE mode resonator formedvia blocks of the high-index magnetodielectric which is continuous along the x and y directions, but which has an air or material gap periodically along the z-direction so the resonant modes caused by the block and block-gap resonances causes effectively nearzero material properties along the z-direction.

[0065] It should be noted that for instances when the y-directed relative permittivity is not matched to air with the x-directed relative permeability, but the ratio between the x- directed permittivity (or permeability) and z-directed permittivity (or permeability) holds, there is no Brewster angle, and any energy entering the composite cannot escape. For a composite which meets the criteria for no Brewster angle internally, but at which the interface has anisotropy allowing energy in from all directions as described above, nearly perfect absorption occurs at the frequencies where the conditions cause near zero effective material properties. Because electric monopoles are possible, such dielectric properties enables finely controlled electrical containment fields for improved electrical versions of magnetospheres and nuclear fusion plasma confinement fields including monopole electric fields which are not possible using magnetic fields as there is currently no magnetic monopole.

[0066] Brewster angles have been exhibited for TM (transverse magnetic) waves and also for TE (transverse electric) waves as described in the following references: L. Zhou, CT. Chan, and P. Sheng, Phys. Rev. B 68, 115424 (2003); T.M. Grzegorczyk, Z.M. Thomas, and J. A. Kong, Appl. Phys. Lett. 86, 251909 (2005). In such cases, the Brewster angle exists for TE waves when the following condition is met for electromagnetic energy propagating along the XZ plane:

[0067] The Brewster angle exists for TM waves when the following condition is met for electromagnetic energy propagating along the XZ plane:

[0068] It should be understood by someone skilled in the art that the properties at each location within an antenna, lens, waveguide, or reflector may be determined based on these relations with a relative coordinate system determined based on the field polarization and propagation direction at each location within the antenna, lens, waveguide, or reflector. In such a way, it is possible to design a structure to achieve the Brewster angle at all angles of incidence, or in an omni-directional way.

[0069] In some embodiments of composite-based applications, a portion of the composite or the entire composite may be composed of materials whose effective properties change across the geometry of the composite. In such a way, the gradual change in material properties may be used to reduce the complexity of the design, decrease reflections, reduce losses, and increase efficiency. For example, at the interface with air, the composite may have a low index of refraction to maximize the Brewster angles and therefore maximize the energy transfer at the air-composite interface. As the energy moves deeper into the composite, the index of refraction may be increased while maintaining the balance between permittivity and permeability so the physical size of the antenna, lens, waveguide, or reflector may be maximally reduced in physical size compared to its electrical size while also maintaining high efficiency and broad-beam coverage for both accepting and emitting electromagnetic energy. In this way, an isotropic or anisotropic composite may achieve high efficiency at a wide range of polarization and propagation angles without the need for metamaterial or metamaterial- inspired techniques, but both the gradient method and metamaterial / metamaterial-inspired techniques may be combined in some applications.

[0070] Another method to improve energy transfer across a boundary is to gradually vary or increase the index of refraction of the magnetodielectric as the physical distance from the boundary or source with the other material, such as air, increases, decreases or varies. In such a circumstance, the difference between characteristic impedances of any two sub-sections of the magnetodielectric is small enough and the Brewster angle range is wide enough that an efficient transfer of energy may occur across a broad range of incidence angles and polarizations. This concept of a gradual or gradient change in the index of refraction may also be used to guide or lens energy in particular directions for focusing, improved energy transfer, and other effects. In general, when the ratio of the index of refraction between any adjacent sub-section of the magnetodielectric is less than 10, an efficiency of energy transfer of more than 70% can be expected across the sub-surface at the Brewster Angle, ignoring possible material losses. Example composite materials are shown below.

[0071] A single row of an example first composite 100 is shown in FIG. 1. As shown, the first composite material 100 includes a first material 120, a second material 140, a third material 160, and a fourth material 180. In certain examples, the composite 100 is made from high-permittivity materials. In certain examples, the composite 100 is made from materials with both high permittivity and high permeability. In certain examples, the composite 100 is made from ferrite materials. In certain examples, the first material 120 is a first ferrite material. In certain examples, the first ferrite material is a Manganese Zinc Spinel Ferrite material. In certain examples, the first ferrite material is Fair Rite Material number 98. In certain examples, the first material 120 is used at a frequency such as 60 kHz, where the relative permeability is within a factor of 10 of the relative permittivity and the index of refraction is approximately 2500.

[0072] In certain examples, the first material 120 defines a first side 122 and a second side 124. In certain examples, the first material 120 further defines a third side 126. In certain examples, the first side 122 is angled relative to the second side 124. In certain examples, the first, second, and third sides 122, 124, 126 are all angled relative to each other. In certain examples, the first material 120 defines a triangular cross sectional profile. Angles of the triangular cross sectional profile may be adjusted for specific applications and frequencies. In certain examples, the first material 120 defines a right triangle cross section where the third side 126 is the hypotenuse and the second side 124 is longer than the first side 122.

[0073] In certain examples, as will be shown below, the first side 122 is in contact with a metal of an antenna element. In certain examples, the first side 122 is in contact with a thin film of high permittivity insulative material with a high breakdown voltage which is in direct contact with metal of the antenna element.

[0074] In certain examples, the first material 120 contacts the second material 140. In certain examples, the first material 120 is bonded to the second material 140. In certain examples, the second material 140 is a second ferrite material. In certain examples, the second ferrite material is a Nickel Zinc Spinel Ferrite material. In certain examples, the second ferrite material is a Fair Rite Material 52.

[0075] In certain examples, the second material 140 defines a first side 142 and a second side 144. In certain examples, the second material 140 further defines a third side146. In certain examples, the first side 142 is angled relative to the second side 144. In certain examples, the first, second, and third sides 142, 144, 146 are all angled relative to each other. In certain examples, the second material 140 defines a triangular cross sectional profile. Angles of the triangular cross sectional profile may be adjusted for specific applications and frequencies. In certain examples, the second material 140 defines a right triangle cross section where the third side 146 is the hypotenuse and the second side 144 is longer than the first side 142.

[0076] In certain examples, the second side 144 of the second material contacts the second side 124 of the first material. In certain examples, the third side 146 of the second material contacts the third side 126 of the first material of a neighboring row of the composite material 100 (as seen in the antenna examples below).

[0077] In certain examples, the characteristic impedance of the first material 120 is relatively close to the characteristic impedance of the second material 140. In certain examples, the characteristic impedance of the first material 120 is within a factor of 50 of the characteristic impedance of the second material 140. In certain examples, the characteristic impedance of the first material 120 is within a factor of 30 of the characteristic impedance of the second material 140. In certain examples, the characteristic impedance of the first material 120 is within a factor of 10 of the characteristic impedance of the second material 140.

[0078] In certain examples, the second material 140 has a low electrical conductivity. Due to the low electrical conductivity of the second material 140, it is not necessary to electrically insulate the first and second materials 120, 140 from each other. In certain examples, the relative permittivity and relative permeability of the second material 140 are within a factor of 10 of each other. In certain examples, the index of refraction of the second material 140 is within a factor of 10 of the index of refraction of the first material 120 at the desired frequency of operation, such as 60 kHz in this example. While the first material 120 would have an index of refraction of about 2,500 at 60 kHz, the second material 140 would have an index of refraction of about 250 at 60 kHz.

[0079] In certain examples, the second material 140 contacts the third material 160. In certain examples, the second material 140 is bonded to the third material 160. In certain examples, the third material 160 is a third ferrite material. In certain examples, the third ferrite material is a Nickel Zinc Spinel Ferrite material. In certain examples, the third ferrite material is Fair Rite Material 67.

[0080] In certain examples, the third material 160 defines a first side 162 and a second side 164. In certain examples, the third material 160 further defines a third side 166. In certain examples, the first side 162 is angled relative to the second side 164. In certain examples, the first, second, and third sides 162, 164, 166 are all angled relative to each other. In certain examples, the third material 160 defines a triangular cross sectional profile. Angles of the triangular cross sectional profile may be adjusted for specific applications and frequencies. In certain examples, the third material 160 defines a right triangle cross section where the third side 166 is the hypotenuse and the second side 164 is longer than the first side 162.

[0081] In certain examples, the first side 162 of the third material contacts the first side 142 for the second material.

[0082] In certain examples, the characteristic impedance of the second material 140 is relatively close to the characteristic impedance of the third material 160. In certain examples, the characteristic impedance of the second material 140 is within a factor of 50 of the characteristic impedance of the third material 160. In certain examples, the characteristic impedance of the second material 140 is within a factor of 30 of the characteristic impedance of the third material 160. In certain examples, the characteristic impedance of the second material 140 is within a factor of 10 of the characteristic impedance of the third material 160.

[0083] In certain examples, the third material 160 has a low electrical conductivity. Due to the low electrical conductivity of the third material 160, it is not necessary to electrically insulate between the second and third materials 140, 160. In certain examples, the relative permittivity and relative permeability of the third material 160 are within a factor of 10 of each other. In certain examples, the index of refraction of the third material 160 at the desired frequency of operation, such as 60 kHz in this example is within a factor of 10 of the index of refraction of the second material 140, or an index of refraction about 40 at 60 kHz.

[0084] In certain examples, the third material 160 contacts the fourth material 180. In certain examples, the third material 160 is bonded to the fourth material 180. In certain examples, the fourth material 180 is a fourth ferrite material. In certain examples, the fourth ferrite material 180 is a Z-Phase Hexaferrite material. In certain examples, the fourth ferrite material is TransTech TTZ-500.

[0085] In certain examples, the fourth material 180 defines a first side 182 and a second side 184. In certain examples, the fourth material 180 further defines a third side 186. In certain examples, the first side 182 is angled relative to the second side 184. In certain examples, the first, second, and third sides 182, 184, 186 are all angled relative to each other. In certain examples, the fourth material 180 defines a triangular cross sectional profile. Angles of the triangular cross sectional profile may be adjusted for specific applications and frequencies. In certain examples, the fourth material 180 defines a right triangle cross section where the third side 186 is the hypotenuse and the second side 184 is longer than the first side 182.

[0086] In certain examples, the second side 184 of the fourth material contacts the second side 164 of the third material. In certain examples, the third side 186 of the fourth material contacts the third side 166 of the third material of a neighboring row of the composite material 100 (as seen in the antenna examples below). In certain examples, the first side 182 of the fourth material contacts air. In certain examples, the third side 186 also contacts air (as seen on ends of antenna examples below).

[0087] In certain examples, the characteristic impedance of the third material 160 is relatively close to the characteristic impedance of the fourth material 180. In certain examples, the characteristic impedance of the third material 160 is within a factor of 50 of the characteristic impedance of the fourth material 180. In certain examples, the characteristic impedance of the third material 160 is within a factor of 30 of the characteristic impedance of the fourth material 180. In certain examples, the characteristic impedance of the third material 160 is within a factor of 10 of the characteristic impedance of the fourth material 180.

[0088] In certain examples, the characteristic impedance of the fourth material 180 is relatively close to the characteristic impedance of air. In certain examples, the characteristic impedance of the fourth material 180 is within a factor of 50 of the characteristic impedance of air. In certain examples, the characteristic impedance of the fourth material 180 is within a factor of 30 of the characteristic impedance of air. In certain examples, the characteristic impedance of the fourth material 180 is within a factor of 10 of the characteristic impedance of air.

[0089] In certain examples. The fourth material 180 has a low electrical conductivity. Due to the low electrical conductivity of the fourth material 180, it is not necessary to electrically insulate between the second and third materials 140, 160. In certainexamples, the relative permittivity and relative permeability of the fourth material 180 are within a factor of 10 of each other. In certain examples, the index of refraction of the fourth material 180 at the desired frequency of operation, such as 60 kHz in this example is within a factor of 10 of the index of refraction of the third material 160. In certain examples, the index of refraction of the fourth material 180 is also within a factor of 10 of air.

[0090] By keeping the variation of index of refraction between layers within a relatively close range, such as a factor of 10 of each other for each neighboring layer, a radio wave experiences a gradual change in the index of refraction as the wave moves through the composite material 100. Such a gradual change in the index of refraction improves the energy transfer at the boundary between each of the layers with broad range of angles over which efficient power transfer occurs which enables common antenna topologies to be developed such as a monopole, dipole, patch, or horn antennas, etc.

[0091] The composite 100 is an example of a gradual change in the index of refraction. It should be understood that more than four layers may be used to reduce the change in index of refraction per layer by less than a factor of 10 between each layer. For instance, ten, one hundred, or one thousand layers may be used to change the index of refraction of the material in a nearly continuous manner with very small changes of the index of refraction compared to the size of the radio wave in a gradient index of refraction. There are a number of methods for attaching surfaces of ferrites including superglue, epoxies with ferrite powder, and melting the ferrites together, to name a few.

[0092] Furthermore, the change of index of refraction may be made more abruptly with fewer layers by use of geometries in which the radio wave is gradually introduced to air. For example, as will be shown below, a conical shaped antenna or a dielectric rod antenna. In this way, the antenna substrate may be greatly simplified to one or just a few layers while still obtaining high efficiency energy transfer between the antenna, antenna substrate and the air. Example conical shaped antennas are shown in FIGS. 10-11 and 14-15.

[0093] The thickness of a complete magnetodielectric sub-system will be determined from the maximum linear field strength and power capabilities of each layer and geometry of the radio paths. The thickness of each layer of the composite material 100 will be determined by the constituent power handling properties of each layer with the thickness sufficient to prevent magnetic saturation of the material which would degradethe permeability. In certain examples, one of the layers of the composite material 100 has a height H and a thickness T. In certain examples, the height H and thickness T are the same for each layer in the composite material 100. It should be noted that FIG. 1 is not necessarily drawn at scale. In certain examples, the height H is a length of the first sides 122, 142, 162, 182. In certain examples, the thickness T is a length of the second sides 124, 144, 164, 184.

[0094] The temperature of the composite material 100 also determines the properties of the composite material 100 and needs to be taken into account in the design.Temperature controls may need to be implemented to maintain the composite material 100 within a range of temperatures which enable operation within design parameters.

[0095] A single row of an example second composite material 200 is shown in FIG. 2. As shown, the second composite material 200 includes a fifth material 220, the first material 120, the second material 140, and the third material 160. In certain examples, the fifth material 220 is a fifth ferrite material. In certain examples, the fifth ferrite material is a Manganese Zinc Spinel Ferrite. In other examples, the fifth ferrite material is an iron-cobalt vanadium material. In certain examples, the fifth ferrite material is Fair Rite Material number 76. In other examples, the fifth ferrite material is Hiperco 50. In certain examples, the fifth material 220 is used at a frequency such as 1 kHz, where the relative permeability is within a factor of 10 of the relative permittivity and the index of refraction is approximately 10,000.

[0096] In certain examples, the fifth material 220 defines a first side 222 and a second side 224. In certain examples, the fifth material 220 further defines a third side 226. In certain examples, the first side 222 is angled relative to the second side 224. In certain examples, the first, second, and third sides 222, 224, 226 are all angled relative to each other. In certain examples, the fifth material 220 defines a triangular cross sectional profile. Angles of the triangular cross sectional profile may be adjusted for specific applications and frequencies. In certain examples, the fifth material 220 defines a right triangle cross section where the third side 226 is the hypotenuse and the second side 224 is longer than the first side 222.

[0097] In certain examples, as will be shown below, the second side 224 is in contact with a metal of an antenna element. In certain examples, the second side 224 is in contact with a thin film of high permittivity insulative material with a high breakdown voltage which is in direct contact with metal of the antenna element.

[0098] In certain examples ,the fifth material 220 contacts the first material 120. In certain examples, the fifth material 220 is bonded to the first material 120. In certain examples, the second side 124 of the first material contacts the third side 226 of the fifth material.

[0099] In certain examples, the characteristic impedance of the first material 120 is relatively close to the characteristic impedance of the fifth material 220. In certain examples, the characteristic impedance of the first material 120 is within a factor of 50 of the characteristic impedance of the fifth material 220. In certain examples, the characteristic impedance of the first material 120 is within a factor of 30 of the characteristic impedance of the fifth material 220. In certain examples, the characteristic impedance of the first material 120 is within a factor of 10 of the characteristic impedance of the fifth material 220.

[0100] Due to the low electrical conductivity of the first material 120, it is not necessary to electrically insulate the first and fifth materials 120, 220 from each other.

[0101] In certain examples, the index of refraction of the first material 120 is within a factor of 10 of the index of refraction of the fifth material 220 at the desired frequency of operation, such as 1 kHz in this example. While the fifth material 220 would have an index of refraction of about 10,000 at 1 kHz, the first material 120 would have an index of refraction of about 1,000 at 1 kHz.

[0102] In certain examples, the first material 120 contacts the second material 140. In certain examples, the first material 120 is bonded to the second material 140. In certain examples, the first side 122 contacts the first side 142.

[0103] In certain examples, the index of refraction of the second material 140 is within a factor of 10 of the index of refraction of the first material 120 at the desired frequency of operation, such as 1 kHz in this example. While the first material 120 would have an index of refraction of about 1,000 at 1 kHz, the second material 140 would have an index of refraction of about 100 at 1 kHz.

[0104] In certain examples, the second material 140 contacts the third material 160. In certain examples, the second material 140 is bonded to the third material 160. In certain examples, the second side 144 contacts the second side 164.

[0105] In certain examples, the index of refraction of the third material 160 at the desired frequency of operation, such as 1 kHz in this example, is within a factor of 10 of the index of refraction of the second material 140.

[0106] By keeping the variation of index of refraction between layers within a relatively close range, such as a factor of 10 of each other for each neighboring layer, a radio wave experiences a gradual change in the index of refraction as the wave moves through the composite material 200. Such a gradual change in the index of refraction improves the energy transfer at the boundary between each of the layers with broad angles over which efficient energy transfer occurs which enables common antenna topologies to be developed such as a monopole, dipole, patch or horn antennas, etc.

[0107] The composite 200 is an example of a gradual change in the index of refraction. It should be understood that more than four layers may be used to reduce the change in index of refraction per layer by less than a factor of 10 between each layer. For instance, ten, one hundred, or one thousand layers may be used to change the index-of- refraction of the material in a nearly continuous manner with very small changes of the index of refraction compared to the size of the radio wave in a gradient index of refraction. An example gradient composite antenna is shown on FIG. 9. There are a number of methods for attaching surfaces of ferrites including superglue, epoxies with ferrite powder, and melting the ferrites together, to name a few.

[0108] Furthermore, the change of index of refraction may be made more abruptly with fewer layers by use of geometries in which the radio wave is gradually introduced to air. For example, as will be shown below, a conical shaped antenna or a dielectric rod antenna. In this way, the antenna substrate may be greatly simplified to one or just a few layers while still obtaining high efficiency energy transfer between the antenna, antenna substrate and the air. Example conical shaped antennas are shown on FIGS. 10-12 and 14.

[0109] The thickness of a complete magnetodielectric sub-system will be determined from the maximum linear field strength and power capabilities of each layer along with the geometry required for maximum energy transfer. The thickness of each layer of the composite material 200 will be determined by the constituent power handling properties of each layer with the thickness sufficient to prevent magnetic saturation of the material which would degrade the permeability. In certain examples, the composite material 200 has a first height Hl and a second height H2 which together define a total height. In certain examples, the composite material 200 has a first thickness Tl, a second thickness T2, and a third thickness T3 which together define a total thickness. In certain examples, the first height Hl defines a length of the second sides 144, 164. In certain examples, thesecond height defines a length of the second side 124 and the third side 226. In certain examples, the first thickness T1 defines a length of the first side 162. In certain examples, the thickness T2 defines a length of the first sides 122, 142. In certain examples, the third thickness T3 defines an altitude of the fifth material 220 when the fifth material 220 is in a triangular shape. A length D defines a length of the second side 224. It should be noted that while certain materials may be the same in both the first composite material 100 and the second composite material 200, the shape and size of each material layer (i.e., 120, 140, 160) are independently determined based on specific applications. Therefore, the parameters Tl, T2, T3, Hl, and H2 are unique to the composite material 200 and are unrelated to the height and thickness of the composite material 100. It should be noted that FIG. 2 is not necessarily drawn at scale. For simplicity the same reference numerals are used across the two example composites to show where the materials are the same.

[0110] In certain examples, the index of refraction of the air is defined as nl, the index of refraction of the third material 160 is defined as n2, the index of refraction of the second material 140 is defined as n3, the index of refraction of the first material 120 is defined as n4, and the index of refraction of the fifth material 220 is defined as n5. In certain examples, n2 / nl~n3 / n2~n4 / n3~n5 / n4~10. As will be described below, with respect to an antenna example, incoming / outgoing waves behave according to certain formulas as they travel through each layer of the composite 200.0B = tan-1(— ) = Brewster Angle=atan(nX / nY)Snells Angle = asin([(nX / nY)2+1]’0 5)Tl=Hl*tan(0s)T2=Hl*tan(0B)H2=T2*tan(0B)D = H2*cos(0s)T3=D*sin(0s)[OHl] In the above formulas, nX is a first index of refraction and nY is a second neighboring index of refraction.

[0112] The temperature of the composite material 200 also determines the properties of the composite material 200 and needs to be taken into account in the design. Temperature controls may need to be implemented to maintain the composite material 200 within a range of temperatures which enable operation within design parameters.

[0113] Other suitable materials may be used to form portions of the composites 100, 200. Examples of high permittivity material include, but are not limited to, MCT-15 with a permittivity of about 15, MCT-18 with a permittivity of about 18, MCT-20 with a permittivity of about 20, MCT-25 with a permittivity of about 25, MCT-30 with a permittivity of about 30, MCT-40 with a permittivity of about 40, MCT-50 with a permittivity of about 50, MCT-70 with a permittivity of about 70, MCT-85 with a permittivity of about 85, MCT-100 with a permittivity of about 100, MCT-115 with a permittivity of about 115, MCT-125 with a permittivity of about 125, MCT-140 with a permittivity of about 140, or X7R with a permittivity of about 2000, or TEFLON.Examples of relatively high permeability material include, but are not limited to, Z-phase Hexaferrites having an index of refraction about 10, G4256 with permeability of about 100, ferrite or other materials with a permeability of 2500, such as Fair-Rite soft ferrite material number 98, Hiperco 50 with a permeability of 10,000 and mu-metals with permeabilities in the range of 50,000 to 100,000.

[0114] Composites 100, 200 are formed by distinct layers. Other composites may be formed through interstitials and inclusions within a composite matrix. A discussion of such composites can be found in U.S. Patent No. 9,263,804, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety.

[0115] FIGS. 3 and 4 show a modeled example of a composite material 1100 that is drawn to scale. The composite material 1100 may share many, or all, the properties of the composites 100 or 200 described above. In the example shown, the composite material includes a first material 1110, a second material 1120, a third material 1130, and a fourth material 1140. As shown, the first material 1110 has an index of refraction of 10, the second material has an index of refraction of 100, the third material 1130 has an index of refraction of 1,000, and the fourth material 1140 has an index of refraction of 10,000. It can be seen from the composite 1100 that the size of each layer of the composite is directly related to the index of refraction of the material of that layer.

[0116] Another method to improve the energy transfer across a boundary is to implement magnetodielectrics as anisotropic materials in a way which increases energytransfer. Anisotropic magnetodielectrics may be developed so the characteristic impedance of the substrate is approximately 377 Ohms in most directions and polarizations, but the effective characteristic impedance may be close to zero for some field polarizations and propagation directions to achieve a broad range of Brewster angles so efficient energy transfer occurs in an omni-directional or nearly omni-directional way.

[0117] High conductivity of high permeability materials may allow such materials to also be used as the antenna radiating element. For such electrically large metals, when the materials are modified or used as described in the present disclosure, the permittivity matches the permeability so that the material is matched to the characteristic impedance of air or to the impedance of an adjacent material. The conductivity effects on permittivity may be mitigated by the use of a thin insulator such as a thin film which is microns thick to enable balanced material properties or to minimize capacitance-induced reductions in effective permittivity between the antenna metal and the next layer, such as another ferrite or air. Furthermore, a thin film composed of high permittivity material such as X7R with a permittivity of about 2000 may also be used to minimize the loss of effective permittivity caused by effective capacitance effects. In these ways such materials can operate at high electric field strengths without breakdown or significant loss of efficiency or material properties while achieving high permeability and high permittivity despite high conductivity over a volume fraction much smaller than the wavelength of the electromagnetic energy.

[0118] High conductivity of high permeability materials may allow such materials to also be used as the antenna radiating element. For some high permeability metals, the conductivity is so high that effective relative permittivity is close to one or even negative and far below the relative permeability across a wide range of low-loss frequencies. Layers of successively lower, primarily high permeability materials may be used to match the characteristic or wave impedance of adjacent material. The layer adjacent to air would have a permeability close to one or a permeability and permittivity close in value or close to one to impedance match the composite to air. The conductivity effects of permittivity on high permeability-only materials may be mitigated by the use of a thin insulator such as a thin film which is microns thick to enable balanced material properties for a radio wavelength much larger than the physical dimensions of the materials. Because an insulator, such as a thin film made of X7R, acts to store energy, when conductive materials are in contact with both sides of the insulator, an effectivecapacitance is created within the thin film. For a multi-layered composite, multiple capacitors may be created whose capacitance may combine in series, reducing the effective capacitance and therefore reducing the effective permittivity of the composite. By utilizing thin layers of high permittivity materials, the conductivity effects of conductive high permittivity materials are mitigated while preserving effective permittivity of the layers of the composite. The thin film may therefore be used to minimize capacitance-induced reductions in effective permittivity between the antenna metal and the next composite layer, such as another ferrite or air. Furthermore, a thin film composed of high permittivity material such as X7R with a permittivity of about 2,000 may also be used to minimize the effects of the loss of effective permittivity caused by effective capacitance effects. In these ways, such materials can operate at high electric field strengths without breakdown or significant loss of efficiency or material properties while achieving high permeability and high permittivity despite high conductivity over a volume fraction much smaller than the wavelength of the electromagnetic energy. A thin film of high insulating high permittivity material close in value to the adjacent high permeability material may be used to optimize the match to the characteristic impedance of air.

[0119] It may be desirable to have antennas where the wave impedance close to the antenna metal is either very high and through layers of a composite gradually reduces to 377 Ohms once the electromagnetic energy is in the far field. Alternatively, it may be desirable for antennas to have very low wave impedance close to the antenna metal which gradually through layers of a composite that gradually increases to 377 Ohms once the electromagnetic energy is in the far-field. For the case where the wave impedance is very high, the composite layers can be designed so the permeability is higher than the permittivity so the characteristic / wave impedance = sqrt( permeability / permittivity) is close to the desired high impedance (for example, 2500 Ohms). As the wave moves closer to the air boundary, the wave impedance reduces towards 377 Ohms and so the composite layers must also be designed to gradually reduce the impedance to 377 Ohms with high permeability being higher than permittivity until the last / air layer. Conversely, for antennas which start with a low impedance next to the antenna, the permittivity is higher than the permeability so the impedance is close in value to the low wave impedance (e.g. 30 Ohms) and the permittivity reduces gradually to match the permeability in successive layers until the last / air layer.

[0120] Benefits of the various composite materials will be seen in example embodiments as described below. The example embodiments are intended to provide non-limiting details of the above described conceptual designs. It would not be possible to provide exhaustive lists of all the possible composites and antenna designs as each would be chosen and tuned based on specific . Such embodiments include antennas, such as antennas having applications for, but not limited to, single-element, phased arrays and retrodirective arrays; antennas for medical implants, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) magnetic biasing; and antennas for cell phones, two-way radios, trunked radio systems, undersea radar and communications, commercial broadcast, radio frequency identification (RFID) systems, near-field secure communications, microscopy, smaller broadband printed circuit boards (PCBs), cables, waveguides, more effective anechoic chambers, wireless power, directed energy systems, long-range ICBM defense systems, artificial magnetospheres, electromagnetic armor, radar spoofing, all forms of radar including ground / building / automotive radars / over-the-horizon, electromagnetic propulsion, radio telescopes, stealth coatings to prevent detection by radar, spatial filters (e.g., EMI filters and front-end protection), and any other application of the near-field which would benefit from the capability to extend the near-field to large distances. As would be recognized by a person skilled in the art, such antennas may be designed into systems which are electrically and / or mechanically steered to achieve desired performance characteristics.

[0121] One application involves the use of composite material in antennas. Examples of antennas include, but are not limited to, microstrip / planar, frequency independent, monopole, dipole, conical, biconical, bowtie, horn, dish, loop, slot, helical, and antenna arrays, etc. An antenna is typically one of the largest elements of a radio because, traditionally, it must be on the order of the size of the wavelength for good overall efficiency. By embedding an antenna in a composite of very high permeability and or a similarly high permittivity material, along with design to achieve a Brewster angle or angles for the electromagnetic polarizations emitted or received, it is possible to dramatically reduce the size of an antenna while preserving antenna efficiency.

[0122] In one antenna embodiment, shown in FIGS. 13, 14, and 15, a composite with individual inclusions smaller than half the wavelength of the incident radio wave in air are used. Also, the relative permeability and permittivity properties in the composite material of the antenna are selected close in relative value at the air-composite boundary, which causes the effective characteristic impedance of the material to closely match thatof air. By matching the material to the characteristic impedance of air and accounting for Brewster angle effects for isotropic or anisotropic materials as discussed, little of the electromagnetic wave energy reflects at the material boundary or interface with air or other material, which allows more energy into or out of the antenna thereby increasing efficiency.

[0123] The geometry of the composite may not be conformal to the antenna metal in all locations, but the geometry will be dictated by the Brewster angle requirements. The geometry of the composite may be simplified in some cases via the use of conductors which constrain electric fields along one orientation.

[0124] An example antenna 300 is shown in FIG. 5. As shown, the antenna 300 is a monopole antenna with only a single row / stack of the composite 100. As shown, the first material 120 is connected to a conductor 390. The antenna 300 could be a transmit antenna or a receive antenna. By using the composite material 300 with Brewster angle geometry, highly efficient energy transfer is possible. A wave 310 is shown arriving at the fourth material 180. The wave 310 defines an incident energy that travels through air to arrive at the fourth material 180 of the antenna 300.

[0125] As shown, the wave 310 enters the fourth material 180 at a first Brewster angle 324. The first Brewster angle is defined as an angle between the incident energy and a first surface axis 322. The first surface axis 322 extends normal to an exterior surface 302. In certain examples, the exterior surface 302 is defined by the first side 182 of the fourth material 180. The first Brewster angle 324 is determined by the interface between air and the fourth material 180, as described above. In certain examples, the first Brewster angle 324 is an angle greater than 45 degrees. In certain examples, the first Brewster angle 324 is an angle greater than 75 degrees. A first Snells angle 326 can be determined by the first Brewster angle 324 by using the formula: 0s = asin(nl*sin(0n) / n2) where 0s is the Snells angle, 0B is the Brewster angle, nl is a first index of refraction (in this case, the index of refraction of air) and n2 is a second index of refraction (in this case, the index of refraction of the fourth material 180). Generally, a Snells angle is the angle at which the incident energy 310 refracts through an interface between two materials.

[0126] As the wave 310 reaches an interface 304 between the fourth material 180 and the third material 160, a second Brewster angle 334 is defined. Similarly, a second surface axis 332 is defined that is normal to the interface 304. Similarly, a second Snells angle 336 is defined.

[0127] As the wave 310 reaches an interface 306 between the third material 160 and the second material 140, a third Brewster angle 344 is defined. Similarly, a third surface axis 342 is defined that is normal to the interface 306. Similarly, a third Snells angle 346 is defined.

[0128] As the wave 310 reaches an interface 308 between the second material 140 and the first material 120, a fourth Brewster angle 354 is defined. Similarly, a fourth surface axis 352 is defined that is normal to the interface 308. Similarly, a fourth Snells angle 356 is defined.

[0129] As the wave 310 reaches an interface 312 between the first material 120 and the conductor 390, a fifth Brewster angle 364 is defined. Similarly, a fifth surface axis 362 is defined that is normal to the interface 312.

[0130] As described above, the composite material 100 is designed to minimize energy losses as the wave 310 travels from the air to the conductor 390.

[0131] Although not shown, the antenna 300 may be part of a broader device that includes an operating circuit, a receiver or transmitter, a controller, processing circuits, etc.

[0132] Another example antenna 400 is shown on FIG. 6. As shown, the antenna 400 is a monopole antenna with only a single row / stack of the composite 200. As shown, the fifth material 220 is connected to a conductor 490. The antenna 400 could be a transmit antenna or a receive antenna. By using the composite material 400 with Brewster angle geometry, highly efficient energy transfer is possible. A wave 410 is shown arriving at the third material 160. The wave 410 defines an incident energy that travels through air to arrive at the third material 160 of the antenna 300.

[0133] As shown, the wave 410 enters the third material 160 at a first Brewster angle 424. The first Brewster angle 424 is defined as an angle between the incident energy and a first surface axis 422. The first surface axis 422 extends normal to an exterior surface 402. In certain examples, the exterior surface 402 is defined by the first side 162 of the third material 160. The first Brewster angle 424 is determined by the interface between air and the third material 160, as described above. In certain examples, the first Brewster angle 424 is an angle greater than 45 degrees. In certain examples, the first Brewster angle 424 is an angle greater than 75 degrees. A first Snells angle 426 can be determined by the first Brewster angle 424 by using the formula: 0s = asin(nl*sin(0n) / n2) where 0s is the Snells angle, 0B is the Brewster angle, nl is a first index of refraction (in this case, theindex of refraction of air) and n2 is a second index of refraction (in this case, the index of refraction of the third material 160). Generally, a Snells angle is the angle at which the incident energy 410 refracts through an interface from one material to another material.

[0134] As the wave 410 reaches an interface 404 between the third material 160 and the second material 140, a second Brewster angle 434 is defined. Similarly, a second surface axis 432 is defined that is normal to the interface 404. Similarly, a second Snells angle 436 is defined.

[0135] As the wave 410 reaches an interface 406 between the second material 140 and the first material 120, a third Brewster angle 444 is defined. Similarly, a third surface axis 442 is defined that is normal to the interface 406. Similarly, a third Snells angle 446 is defined.

[0136] As the wave 410 reaches an interface 408 between the first material 120 and the fifth material 220, a fourth Brewster angle 454 is defined. Similarly, a fourth surface axis 452 is defined that is normal to the interface 408. Similarly, a fourth Snells angle 456 is defined.

[0137] As the wave 410 reaches an interface 412 between the fifth material 220 and the conductor 490, a fifth Brewster angle 464 is defined. Similarly, a fifth surface axis 462 is defined that is normal to the interface 412. In certain examples, the Brewster angle 464 may be zero degrees for certain conductors 490.

[0138] As described above, the composite material 200 is designed to minimize energy losses as the wave 410 travels from the air to the conductor 490.

[0139] Although not shown, the antenna 400 may be part of a broader device that includes an operating circuit, a receiver or transmitter, a controller, processing circuits, etc.

[0140] FIG. 7 shows an example antenna 500 using the first composite 100. The antenna 500 includes a first array 520, a second array 530, and a conductor 510. In certain examples, the first and second arrays 520, 530 are constructed to be the same size. In certain examples, the first and second arrays 520, 530 include a plurality of rows of the composite 100. In certain examples, the first array 520 extends along one side of the conductor 510 and the second array 530 extends along a second, opposite, side of the conductor 510. In certain examples, the first and second arrays 520, 530 surround at least a portion of the conductor 510. In certain examples, the first conductor 510 is made fromcopper or a copper alloy or a high permeability conductor or specialized copper tape which restricts electric field polarizations.

[0141] FIG. 8 shows an example dipole antenna 600 using the first composite 100. The dipole antenna 600 includes a first array 630 and a second array 640. The dipole antenna 600 includes a first conductor 610 and a second conductor 620. In certain examples, the first and second arrays 630, 640 each include a plurality of rows of the composite 100. In certain examples, the first array 630 extends along one side of the first and second conductors 610, 620. In certain examples, the second array 640 extends along a second, opposite, side of the first and second conductors 610, 620. In certain examples, the first and second arrays 630, 640 surround at least a portion of the first and second conductors 610, 620. In certain examples, the first and second conductors 610, 620 are made from copper or a copper alloy or a high permeability conductor or specialized copper tape which restricts electric field polarizations.

[0142] FIG. 9 shows an example dipole antenna 700 using a composite material 750. The dipole antenna 700 includes a first array 730 and a second array 740. The dipole antenna 700 includes a first conductor 710 and a second conductor 720. The composite material 750 is an example of a continuous, or near continuous, gradient composite created through the formation of many stacked composite layers. As discussed generally above, the composite material 750 would have an index of refraction at or near air on one side and a much higher index of refraction at the side contacting the first and second conductors 710, 720. In certain examples, the composite material 750 is designed using ferrite or high permittivity or both ferrite and high permittivity materials. In certain examples, the first and second conductors 710, 720 are made from copper or a copper alloy or a high permeability conductor or specialized copper tape which restricts electric field polarizations.

[0143] In certain examples, the composite material 750 includes a plurality of layers 780 in a stacked configuration. In certain examples, the plurality of layers 780 include an exterior layer 752, a plurality of inner layers 754, and an interior layer 756. In certain examples, the exterior layer 752 has an impedance within an order of magnitude of an impedance of air. In certain examples, the exterior layer 752 has an index of refraction within an order of magnitude of an index of refraction of air. In certain examples, the exterior layer 752 neighbors, and interfaces with, the plurality of inner layers 754 at an exterior region 770. In certain examples, the interior layer 756 neighbors, and interfaceswith, the plurality of inner layers 754 at an interior region 760. Each layer of the plurality of layers 780 has an index of refraction within an order of magnitude of each neighboring layer of the plurality of layers 780, or within a factor of 30, or within a factor of 50. The plurality of layers 780 define a gradient of index of refraction such that the index of refraction through the composite material 750 increases at each layer in a direction from the exterior layer 752 to the interior layer 756.

[0144] The geometry of the antenna or reflector, substrate, and / or lens may be designed which enables efficient energy transfer across a boundary between the magnetodielectric and other media such as air. A conical shaped antenna such as a dielectric rod antenna which induces a non-conical side for the transmission line, waveguide, or reflector with an external conical-shaped magnetodielectric substrate, coating, or lens may be used to focus energy at a distance from the antenna or reflector. Because a diffraction event at the interface between a low-index material, such as air, and a high-index material, such as magnetodielectrics results in very high angles of refraction, often close to 90 degrees, a conical design enables an effective focusing of the energy along the axis of the cone to a focal point at a distance. Once the energy crosses the composite-air boundary and turns close to 90 degrees, the conical shape makes it so the energy does not continue to propagate along the surface or within the composite as it would if the antenna were cylindrical in shape.

[0145] An example conical antenna 800 is shown in FIG. 10. The conical antenna 800 includes a conductor 810 and a composite 850. The conductor 810 defines a conical shape. The composite 850 surrounds the conductor 810. In certain examples, the composite 850 defines a frustoconical shape surrounding the conductor 810, such that a forwardmost end of the conical antenna defines a flat exterior. The conical antenna 800 is shown transmitting an example wave 820. The wave 820 extends outward from the conical antenna. The wave 820 extends through the composite 850 at a Brewster angle 824 and outward from the composite 850 at a Snells angle 826 as measured about an interface axis 822. In certain examples, the Snells angle 826 is within 15 degrees of aligning with an exterior surface 804. The exterior surface 804 is defined by a cone angle 802.

[0146] In certain examples, the composite 850 is a single layer composite. In certain examples. The composite 850 defines a plurality of composite layers, such as those shown in composite 100 or composite 200. In certain examples, the composite 850 is acontinuous, or near continuous, gradient composite. In certain examples, the conical antenna 800 produces near-field quasi-static fields at the Brewster angle 824.

[0147] Another example conical antenna 900 is shown on FIG. 11. The conical antenna 900 includes a conductor 910 and a composite 950. The conductor 910 defines a plurality of parallel arms 912 that extend toward an exterior surface 904 from a central portion 914. The composite 950 surrounds the conductor 910. In certain examples, the composite 950 defines a frustoconical shape surrounding the conductor 910, such that a forwardmost end of the conical antenna 900 defines a flat exterior. The conical antenna 900 is shown passing energy efficiently to air of an example wave 920. The wave 920 extends outward from the conical antenna. The wave 920 extends through the composite 950 at a Brewster angle 924 and outward from the composite at a Snells angle 926 as measured about an interface axis 922. In certain examples, the Snells angle 926 is within 15 degrees of aligning with the exterior surface 904. The exterior surface 904 is defined by a cone angle 902.

[0148] In certain examples, the composite 950 is a single layer composite. In certain examples, the composite 950 defines a plurality of composite layers, such as those shown in composite 100 or composite 200. In certain examples, the composite 950 is a continuous, or near continuous, gradient composite. In certain examples, the conical antenna 900 produces an imposed polarization via the conductor 910 or polarizing conductor 910 with decreasing material delay towards an apex to phase align signal at the exterior surface 904. The conductors are designed to generate field polarizations in the plane of the incident wave 920 and the surface normal which maximizes energy transfer across the boundary.

[0149] Another example cone antenna 1700 is shown on FIG. 12. The cone antenna 1700 shares certain similarities of the cone antenna 800. In certain examples, the cone antenna includes a conductor 1790 and a first material 1750. In certain examples, the first material 1750 is a high permittivity material. In certain examples, the first material 1750 is a high permeability material. In certain examples, the first material 1750 has a permeability and permittivity that are within an order of magnitude of each other. In certain examples, the first material 1750 is a ferrite material. In certain examples, the conductor 1790 is a conical conductor. In certain examples, the conductor 1790 includes a conductive tape. In certain examples, the conductive tape is 3M 9703 which forces a surface normal electric field. In certain examples, the first material 1750 surrounds theconductor 1790. In certain examples, the conductorl790 has an exterior angle that is different from an exterior angle of the first material 1750. In certain examples, the conductor is set at an inner surface normal 84.3 degrees from the outer surface normal which provides electric fields at the polarization and incident angles in the plane of the surface normal required to achieve highly efficient energy transfer across the cone-air interface. In certain examples, a Brewster angle 1744 is defined at an air interface. A surface axis 1742 is defined normal to the exterior surface of the first material 1750. A Snells angle 1746 is defined on the interior of the first material 1750. In certain examples, the Brewster angle 1744 is 84.3 degrees. In certain examples, the Snells angle 1746 is 5.7 degrees. An example wave 1740 is shown travelling between the air and the conductor 1790. In certain examples, the first material 1750 has an index of refraction of approximately 10. In certain examples, the cone antenna has a base length A and an apex length B. In certain examples, the base length A is 6mm. In certain examples, the apex length B is 2mm. In certain examples, the cone antenna has a height of 20mm.

[0150] It should be recognized that many other shapes are compatible with energy turning close to 90 degrees at the interface and not propagating along the composite surface or within the composite, for example, a sphere or other convex shaped interface. It should be recognized that concave shapes are compatible with energy turning close to 90 degrees at the interface and not propagating along or within the composite surface or within the composite by the use of waveguides, reflectors, lenses, and other techniques for directing energy in a direction away from the composite towards a desired location in an unfocused or focused way with the conical shape. A combination of methods described above occurs in which the Brewster angle is achieved while simultaneously gradually varying the index of refraction experienced by the radio wave which optimizes energy transfer while minimizing the geometry of the composite.

[0151] Another example of using the geometry to effect high energy transfer, a geometry such as a parallel plate capacitor, a microstrip transmission line, parallel plate waveguide, or similar structure in which electric field polarization is well defined is embedded in high index magnetodielectric material. For a parallel plate capacitor, the electric field line polarization direction is primarily between the plates at stimulus frequencies for which the plate is small compared to the wavelength of the stimulus. Energy incident on the surrounding magnetodielectric is refracted at angles close to 90 degrees from the planes of the capacitor plates, allowing energy to escape from the sidesof the capacitor efficiently along a plane. The energy may escape in a more directional manner by the use of capacitor / antenna conductors which restrict the lateral polarization direction of electric fields, for example, by long strips of metal which are parallel to each other in a plane, but electrically isolated to minimize electric field energy laterally or electrical tapes such as 3M 9703 which restricts electric fields to perpendicular polarizations only in order to maximize field energy along one polarization.

[0152] In another example, a conductor surrounded by high-index magnetodielectrics may be electrically isolated from the environment or use a counterpoise such as a metal plate or the earth. In such circumstances, for electric fields which vary slowly compared to the physical size of the antenna, at any moment of time the electric field may distribute equally over the surface and be orthogonal to the surface at every point in a quasi-static manner. In this way, a wide variety of antenna geometries would enable high energy transfer from the antenna conductor through the magnetodielectric and into the air or other material. The surface of the magnetodielectric interface to the air or other material may be shaped to focus the energy in a particular direction by making use of the most efficient Brewster angle at each point in the geometry such as a conical shaped antenna.

[0153] When implementing the cone or other shaped antenna, lens, waveguide, transmission line, or reflector in a near-field electromagnetic application, the size of the focal point may be much smaller than the diffraction limit. The diffraction limit is half of the wavelength of the energy used and applies to far-field electromagnetic energy, but that diffraction limit does not necessarily apply for near-field electromagnetic energy. The primary limit for focusing near-field electromagnetic energy may be the losses in the antenna and system instead of the diffraction limit (R. B. Greegor, C. G. Parazzoli, K. Li, M. H. Tanielian; Origin of dissipative losses in negative index of refraction materials. Appl. Phys. Lett. 7 April 2003; 82 (14): 2356-2358).

[0154] In another example, the geometry of the antenna or reflector may be cone-like in some areas, but the shape would be defined by the optimal geometry for the polarization phasing of the energy and diffraction of the energy so that the energy optimally traverses the material boundaries and propagates in the desired direction in a collimated way, or to a focal point. The antenna, lens, waveguide, or reflector may also send energy in an unfocused way which may be desirable in applications such as artificial magnetospheres. In this way, the geometry of the antenna, lens, waveguide, or reflector would be designed around the field propagation direction and field orientations at eachposition in space. Analogously, horn antennas demonstrated to achieve greater than 95% efficiency, utilize a similar method to maximize energy transfer from the antenna into air, but horn antennas do not have the challenges of magnetodielectrics in terms of material impedance matching and Brewster angles. For a cone-shaped monopole or dipole antenna, the fields polarizations are perpendicular with the geometry, and the direction of propagation is close to orthogonal to the surface of the antenna composite at some locations along the antenna, such as the center of one cone, but are not polarized perpendicular, and the propagation direction is not orthogonal near the ends of a cone. This is to minimize the electric field polarization energy parallel to a tangent to the interface which are cancelled or reflected by conductivity in one of the materials at the boundary. With a 10: 1 change in the index of refraction, the direction of propagation is approximately 5.7 degrees from normal. By judicious variation of the design of the interface between the antenna, magnetodielectric and air or other media, a high energy transfer across the interface may be optimized and the desired propagation direction may be optimized including in transition areas of the geometry such as the ends of the cone.

[0155] Absorbing cones used in radio anechoic chambers have an analogous effect in that the radio wave first encounters the tip of the cone which, to the radio wave, acts like a small perturbation in the overall space compared to the size of the wavelength of the radio wave and so only a small amount of energy is reflected from the tip of the cone. As the radio wave propagates along the cone, more of the space is occupied gradually by the absorbing cone, but at each small advance forward by the radio wave, the radio wave still only experiences a small change in the occupied space by the absorbing cone. Due to the gradual change of material property experienced by the radio wave, only a small portion of the radio wave is reflected, often less than one percent of the incident energy for the entire cone for radio waves at the frequencies over which the cones are designed to operate. In a similar way, energy may be efficiently received, absorbed or guided by a high index magnetodielectric.

[0156] An example metamaterial 1000 is shown in FIG. 13. The metamaterial 1000 defines a plurality of resonators. In certain examples, the metamaterial 1000 includes a first resonator 1010, a second resonator 1020, and a third resonator 1030. In certain examples, the resonators 1010, 1020, 1030 extend parallel to each other about an X and Y axis. In certain examples, the first resonator 1010 defines a thickness T4 about a Z axis. The X, Y, and Z axes are each perpendicular to the other axes. In certain examples, thesecond resonator 1020 defines a thickness T5 about the Z axis. In certain examples, the third resonator 1030 defines a thickness T6 about the Z axis. In certain examples, the first resonator 1010 and the second resonator 1020 are separated by an air or material gap G1 along the Z axis. In certain examples, the second resonator 1020 and the third resonator 1030 are separated by an air or material gap G2 along the Z axis. In certain examples, T4, T5, and T6 are the same thickness. In certain examples, G1 and G2 have the same spacing.

[0157] In certain examples, the metamaterial 1000 defines an index of refraction nx about the X axis, an index of refraction ny about the Y axis, and an index of refraction nz about the Z axis. In certain examples, ny =nx. In certain examples, the permittivity and the permeability about an XY plane are the same. In certain examples, the index of refraction about the XY plan is 1,000. In certain examples, an effective index of refraction nz about the Z-axis is 1 / 1,000. An example wave 1040 incident on the first resonator 1010 defines a Brewster angle 1044 and the incident wave is directed along the Z axis. The Brewster angle 1044 defined between the incident wave 1040 and an interface axis 1042. The resonators 1010, 1020, and 1030 can be used to achieve Brewster angles at all or nearly all incoming angles at the resonator 1010. In the present example, the metamaterial 1000 is capable of TE and / or TM Mode Resonances along Z axis with an effective index of refraction of 1 / 1,000.

[0158] The antenna geometries disclosed above also have applications with metamaterial-inspired designs. As discussed above, leveraging a conical geometry can improve focusing of waves, including with metamaterials. An example antenna 1200 is shown in FIG. 14. The antenna 1200 is a conical metamaterial composite antenna. The antenna 1200 includes the metamaterial 1000 and a conductor 1210. As shown, waves 1250 and 1260 can be received or transmitted from the antenna at nearly all angles.

[0159] An example horn antenna 1300 is shown in FIG. 15. The horn antenna 1300 is a metamaterial-inspired composite antenna. In certain examples, the horn antenna 1300 includes a plurality of resonators 1310. In certain examples, each of the plurality of resonators 1310 are parallel with neighboring resonators 1310. The horn antenna 1300 includes a horn body 1320. The horn body 1320 acts as a waveguide. In some horn designs which achieve efficiency higher than 90%, the shape of the flare may deviate significantly from the shape of standard gain horn flares, but the same methods described may also be applied to such horns. The plurality of resonators 1310 may be used to createa gradient index, much like those described above with respect to the composite gradients.

[0160] Another possible application of the composites disclosed above is a Luneberg lens 1500. FIG. 16 shows an example Luneberg lens 1500 with a multilayer composite 1550. The composite 1550 may have certain attributes of any of the previously discussed composites. The composite 1550 has a plurality of layers including an innermost layer 1552 and an outermost layer 1554. In certain examples, the innermost layer has an index of refraction greater than or equal to 1,000. In certain examples, the outermost layer 1554 has an index of refraction at or near 1. In certain examples, a gradient of index of refraction is created through the plurality of layers from the innermost layer 1552 to the outermost layer 1554. In certain examples, the plurality of layers of the composite 1550 are varying types of ferrite composite materials. In certain examples, the plurality of layers of the composite 1550 each have a different permittivity. In certain examples, the plurality of layers of the composite 1550 each have a different permeability. In certain examples, the plurality of layers of the composite 1550 each have a different permeability and permittivity. The Luneberg lens 1500 is designed to create efficient energy transfer at all, or nearly all, angles from a central source 1560.

[0161] Another possible application of the composites disclosed above is to create a composite waveguide 1600. An example composite waveguide 1600 is shown in FIG. 17. A composite waveguide 1600 may be created using at least two composite materials with a large difference in the index of refraction. As shown, the composite waveguide 1600 includes a first material 1610 and a second material 1620. In certain examples, the first material is a ferrite material with a high index of refraction (greater than 1,000). In certain examples, the second material is a ferrite material with an index of refraction at least two orders of magnitude different. In certain examples, the second material has an index of refraction at or near 1. In certain examples the second material surrounds at least a portion of the first material. In certain examples, first material 1610 is a gradient index composite where the highest index of refraction is along a centerline from left to right which reduces closer to an upper and lower boundary with second material 1620. A wave 1640 is shown travelling through the first material 1610. The second material essentially traps the wave within the first material. An analogous example is light in a fiber optic cable.

[0162] As mentioned throughout the present disclosure, there are numerous possible applications of the above described composites, metamaterials, and antenna systems. Several detailed examples are provided below. These examples are not intended to be limiting but are provided simply to demonstrate a small subset of applications.Directed Energy System

[0163] The requirements for a directed energy system may be identified by first noticing that many electronics are protected from radio directed energy systems by the use of metal shields. Such shields do not provide good protection from radio waves at frequencies of 1 kHz and below, but such frequencies have been difficult to use in the past due to the size of the radio waves. At 1 kHz, for example, the wavelength in air is 300 km. The best focusing possible with conventional electromagnetic far-field is half of the wavelength, or 150 km at 1 kHz. A person skilled in the art would recognize that the electromagnetic near-field is required to attack electronic systems at 1 kHz and below. A person skilled in the art would recognize that the only limit to focusing near-field electromagnetic energy are the losses in the system. Furthermore, the larger the antenna system electrical size, the more the near-field may be used to focus energy. For example, the following paper describes the size of a near-field aperture or antenna array required to focus near-field energy into an arbitrarily small focal point at a distance: J. Sherman, "Properties of focused apertures in the fresnel region," in IRE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, vol. 10, no. 4, pp. 399-408, July 1962.

[0164] For the example directed energy system requirements, the sensitivity of a typical integrated circuit clock pin is estimated to be about 0.5 Volts to damage the circuit. As an example, the clock pins of the Silicon Labs EFR32BG13 microcontroller would require about 0.5 volts to damage the circuit. A typical gap of adjacent reference pins of an example integrated circuit is about 0.24mm. The electric field strength required to destroy the example microcontroller is approximately 2500 volts-per-meter, or about +72 dBm-per-meter-squared. Assuming a typical metal wall shielding thickness of 0.4 mm, the attenuation through an aluminum shield is calculated by the electromagnetic skin depth formula which results in 2.7 mm skin depth at 1 kHz. The resulting attenuation through a 0.4 mm thick aluminum shield would be about 0.7 dB. This means that the directed energy system would need to deliver about +73 dBm of near-field energy at 1 kHz to destroy the example integrated circuit.

[0165] Most electronic systems, including hardened electronics are protected from conducted electromagnetic threats by protection circuitry such as capacitors, lightning arrestors, surge protectors, fuses, inductors, and other devices which are generally only placed at the interface of a circuit to another circuit or external system. This protection is assumed adequate because of the past difficulty passing enough focused radiated or nonradiated near-field energy into the system through the metal shield, bypassing such protections. A person skilled in the art would recognize that a focused near-field electromagnetic beam at 1 kHz with a high field strength sufficient to damage internal electronics (2500 volts / m in this example), but not high enough to break down air (1 million volts / m) could be used to damage hardened electronics.

[0166] A directed energy system capable of destroying any electronic system within 2,000 km may be designed. For example, if such a system were deployed in North Korea, it could destroy any electronic system in South Korea or Japan. If such a system were deployed on the Chinese base in Cuba, it could destroy any city, military base, ship, aircraft, missile, or other electronic system in the southeast U.S., including Houston, Norfolk, Huntsville, New Orleans, Atlanta, and Washington, D.C. For a focal point located 2,000 km from the transmitter at 1 kHz, the size of the antenna array would be larger than the diameter of the earth if the antenna did not use magnetodielectrics to reduce the physical size. Using a magnetodielectric composite, such as the composite material 200, with an index of refraction of 10,000, the size of a square antenna array would be about 2.7 km by 2.7 km in size. This is comparable in size to an antenna array the U.S. government already operates in Cutler, Maine which is 1.8 km in size. The 2.7 km size meets the requirements of array length divided by the square root of the focal length being greater than 5 and the size of the antenna divided by the wavelength being much greater than one which is required to use Sherman’s formulae: - = > 5 , where a is the length of one side of a square antenna array and F is the distance to the focal point. D / z. >1 is also assumed in which D is the size of the antenna and X is the wavelength of the radio wave. The boundary between the near-field and Fresnel field is more than 53,000 km and the boundary between the Fresnel and far fields is more than 2.7 million km providing excellent near-field focusing capabilities for targets located within 2,000 km.

[0167] The half-power beamwidth of the 2.7 km by 2.7 km array is about 10 km in radius at the 2,000 km focal point. A person skilled in the art can calculate that such abeamwidth requires about 5.2 Tera-Watts of power delivered into the half-power beamwidth, or about 10 Tera-Watts of power transmitted. The power does not need to be delivered continuously, but like other directed energy systems, can be delivered in pulses such as could be generated from a Marx bank generator. By designing the antenna array so that it received energy over a three milli-second timeframe, an energy delivery and resonating circuit would have time to turn on, generate at least one cycle of 1 kHz energy at full power and then less energy in a subsequent cycle. For example, energy delivered from an approximately 2.8 Farad Marx generator with a rise-time of 1 millisecond into an electrically large patch or patch antenna array with an effective capacitance of 390 microFarads terminated to ground with an inductance of about 59 micro-Henries would resonate at full power at about 1 kHz for at least one millisecond of three milliseconds duration. The capacitance sets the minimum spacing to the earth ground from the antenna patch or patch array and a solid or mesh or other metal may be buried or located at the appropriate distance from the antenna to achieve the required capacitance. For example, for a solid 2.7 km patch, a distance from the ground of approximately 15 cm may be required. Lifts may be incorporated into the design of the antenna patch or array to finetune the resonant frequency and other operating parameters. The 59 micro-Henries may be implemented by about 1,300 inductors in parallel and distributed along the opposite side of the 2.7 km array from the Marx Generator, with each inductor having about 77.3 milli-Henries. A 77.3 milli-Henry inductor may be implemented using 150 turns of gage 0000(0 / 4) wire whose length would be 2 meters with a diameter of about 2 meters.

[0168] In the example four-layer composite shown in FIG. 2, for which the permeability equals the permittivity in each layer with each successive layer deeper from the air towards the conductor having an increase of roughly 10 times in index of refraction, the Brewster angle at each layer is about 84.3 degrees and the refracted wave is about 5.7 degrees. The electromagnetic fields from near-field antennas may be designed to predominantly utilize electric field energy or magnetic field energy. This example system is an electric near-field system for which enables us to minimize the effects of magnetic saturation. For a near-field or quasi-static field antenna designed to predominantly couple electric fields, the voltage breakdown and conductivity of the composites predominate the size limits. For composites with a voltage breakdown of IkV / mm, a minimum lens thickness of 200 mm is sufficient to tolerate the imposed 150 kV with some design margin. The formulas describing the geometry of an element of thelens layers are as shown above. With regard to FIG. 2, setting Hl=2mm, the resulting dimensions are Tl= 0.2mm, T2=20mm width on the surface of the lens, H2=200mm, T3=19.7mm and the length of the 3M brand 9703 anisotropic electrical tape is D=199mm for forcing the necessary polarization in the plane made by the surface normal and incident energy. Standard conductive tape may be used to accumulate or feed signals from successive lens lays to or from the 2.7km by 2.7 km antenna and ports. Using Onderdonk’s equation and assuming the melting point of copper is 1083 C and a maximum stimulus time of 210kA is 1 second (more than 300x engineering margin on the 3 milliseconds estimated), the minimum thickness of the 2.7 km by 2.7 km copper antenna is 0.8 mils (0.0008 inches) thick. Even if the magnetic field or a combination of electric and magnetic fields were chosen for the antennas, the magnetic field is less than 1 Oersted when the 210kA is spread over the 2.7 km extent of the source. This is more than a factor of 5 lower magnetic field than the saturation level of each composite described. The advantage of using both electric and magnetic fields is the antenna may be operated closer to resonance where the near-field extent is extended due to the RF Caustic Effect. Operating the antenna at electrical sizes closer to one wavelength or larger also allows the focal point to be reduced further. One skilled in the art would understand that there are many possible implementations of composites to obtain efficient operation when the indices of refraction change from one layer to the next and to air. Because the refraction acts similar to a reflection, other reflection-like geometries may be used including telescope geometries, such as Wolter mirror type, Cassegrain, interferometric, and others for the antenna, lens, waveguide, reflectors, etc.

[0169] The components of the system may be actively cooled or air cooled. The components may be encased in oil or gas to prevent arcing. One skilled in the art would recognize that other methods of energy delivery may be used including specialized tube amplifiers used in other types of radio directed energy systems. One skilled in the art would recognize that the system may be effectively phased to focus the energy at varying distances and angles. For example, the timing of energy delivery from multiple capacitors or Marx generators may be used for phasing. In other implementations, a horn antenna combined with a waveguide reflector or reflectors or dish may be used to adjust focal length and angle or other known methods.

[0170] Generally, the curvature of the earth limits line-of-sight delivery to other locations on the surface to about 5 km. For airborne targets, the line-of-sight range canexceed 1,000 km. Because 1 kHz energy reflects off the ionosphere very well and because methods have been developed to accurately track the state of the ionosphere, the ionosphere could be used to attack targets over the horizon. A person skilled in the state of the art would recognize that waveguide reflectors mounted on aircraft, balloons, missiles, and other vehicles may be used to steer and focus energy onto specific targets. Even though the focal point beamwidth is about 10 km radius at 2,000 km distance, when a waveguide reflector is designed using a magnetodielectric composite, such as the composite material 200, with an antenna miniaturization factor of 10,000, the size of the reflector for efficient reflections may be relatively small as the capture area of such waveguides is scaled by the magnetic permeability and permittivity of the composite. Furthermore, the reflection may be placed high in the atmosphere above the weapon or near the halfway point (e.g., 600 km) or closer where the beamwidth may be much smaller to improve the performance of the waveguide reflector or reduce the size of the reflector. A person skilled in the art would recognize that waveguide reflectors often have efficiencies exceeding 90%. Multiple reflectors may be used to optimize the focusing of energy and modifying the distance over which attacks may occur.

[0171] For a 10 Tera-Watt directed energy system operating over 3 milliseconds requires 30 Giga- Joules of energy. A 10 Mega-Watt generator would require about 50 minutes to charge up the Marx capacitors or other storage system for each transmitted pulse, ignoring losses. For a high-voltage capacitor such as CDE capacitors with an energy density of 2.75 Joules per cubic centimeter, a capacitor array along one side of the 2.7 km patch antenna array would need to be about 6 feet high and 6 feet deep all along the array. A person skilled in the art would recognize that a larger power source would enable shorter charging times. For example, a 100 Mega-Watt generator would require 5 minutes to provide the needed 30 Giga-Joules.

[0172] Switchgear to operate such a system would need to operate at high voltages, such as 245 kV but could be made to fit within the available space by the use of gas insulated substations which would need to be custom designed for 1 kHz operation, but such switchgear capable of delivering more than 12 Giga-Watts at 60 Hz for up to three seconds are commercially available and could be modified for the turn-on, turn-off, inductive kick-back and other requirements of the system at 1 kHz. Furthermore, customized systems have already been developed which deliver hundreds of Giga-Wattsfor short durations in a relatively small space for electromagnetic directed energy weapons such as specialized vacuum and avalanche tubes.

[0173] Similar to how a small transformer is necessary for recharging a cell phone and a relatively large transformer required to power a desktop computer, the magnetics for a directed energy system would be similarly scaled in size based on the larger power requirements. The thickness would also be dictated by the voltage breakdown requirements of the ferrite and expected currents. Some ferrites have high breakdown voltages which is advantageous for high power applications like directed energy systems.

[0174] A person skilled in the art would recognize that to attack targets much closer than 2,000 km, such as at distances of 20 km would greatly alleviate the size, energy requirements and costs of a system to attack any electronics. Using the same design methodologies as before, a system for destroying any aircraft, vehicle, missile, or other electronic system within 20 km may fit into a vehicle and could be mechanically or electrically steered to attack individual targets.

[0175] In some applications using lenses, it will be necessary to adjust the properties of lens elements dynamically without saturation as the near-field changes with time. All antennas generate near-fields that are complicated and change with time. For some near- field lens applications, it may not be possible to achieve the desired focal point or other features with lens elements exhibiting constant effective dielectric properties. This is particularly true as the environment of a lens changes and as the near-field penetrates various materials within the environment. Changing the effective material properties to compensate for changes in the near-field of the source antenna is similar to using antenna array techniques in that different elements of the array are stimulated differently, but in the case of antenna arrays, the inventors may stimulate the source elements differently, not the individual lens elements. Antenna array theory also is mostly concerned with the far-field, whereas near-field lens tuning is concerned with adapting the lens elements to compensate for local changes in the near-field. In some embodiments, each lens element in a lens is subject to a magnetic and / or electric field of a given strength to dynamically adjust the property of the lens element. For example, for an electric near-field antenna, a time-varying magnetic field may be used to strongly vary the index of refraction over time to provide ideal indices of refraction properties for energy passing from the antenna to air.

[0176] FIGS. 18-20 show an example schematic of a directed energy system 1400, as described generally above. The directed energy system 1400 includes a power plant 1410, a control panel 1420, a capacitor array 1430, an antenna 1440, and an inductor array 1404. In certain examples, switches 1402 may be placed between the control panel and the capacitor array. In certain examples, switches 1402 may be placed between the capacitor array and the antenna. In certain examples, inductors 1404 and / or switches 1402 may be placed between the antenna and ground 1406. Not shown are protection circuits which are assumed to be included in each subsystem description above.Wireless Power

[0177] For a wireless power application, operation at 60 kHz is advantageous because of the development of low-cost and high efficiency power circuitry. For example, very high efficiency class-D audio amplifiers have been developed for providing energy at high efficiency to a wireless power transmit antenna, such as the TPA3255 which has efficiency greater than 90% at power levels exceeding 300 Watts. This amplifier may be driven by a low power, such as less than 0.1 Watts, oscillator operating at 60 kHz. In this way, an electrically large monopole antenna made using a material such as the composite material 100 would be able to launch more than 80% of the 300 Watts of energy received into its near-field, or at least 240 Watts. Because the energy is near-field energy, it may be launched primarily in the magnetic field or the electric field. For this monopole example, the electric field is desired due to the improved human safety of the electric field as compared to the magnetic field. A person skilled in the art would recognize that the near-field energy may also be put predominantly into the magnetic field or in a combination of both electric and magnetic fields via judicious choices of other antenna topologies including lens designs.

[0178] An example schematic of a wireless power system 1800 is shown in FIG. 21. As shown, the wireless power system 1800 include a transmitter system 1810 and a receiver system 1860. As shown, the transmitter system 1810 uses a monopole antenna 1820. In certain examples, the antenna 1820 is made using the composite material 100, with an index of refraction material of 2,500 at 60 kHz. In other examples, various other materials, as disclosed in the present disclosure, may be used. In certain examples, a radio wave 1850 is produced by the antenna 1820. In certain examples, the antenna 1820 is a conical antenna. In certain examples, the size of the radio wave 1850 within thecomposite 100 is 2 meters. In certain examples, the antenna 1820 is 0.5 meters (19.7 inches) long which provides good antenna efficiency as a half-wave antenna. Half-wave antennas often achieve efficiency greater than 70% in converting energy into the far-field, but for near-field energy, the efficiency is often greater than 90%. The low conductivity of the substrate materials of the composite material 100 is a further advantage for the generated electric fields as they lead to low currents keeping the substate operating at points on the BH curve (magnetization curve) far from saturation. By the use of electric fields in a low conductivity composite, like the composite material 100, the antenna 1820 may be very thin, and therefore low cost. In certain examples, the composite material 100 is less than 5 mm thick. The substrate, composite 100, would operate in a linear fashion due to low substrate currents to generate large amounts of electric near-field energy at efficiency greater than 80% of the wall power or battery used as the source of energy by the class-D transmit amplifier.

[0179] It should be recognized by someone skilled in the art that the coupling between the transmitter and receiver may be highly efficient via near-field coupling, but also by surface waves such as Zenneck Surface Waves, Resonant Surface Waves, Surface Waves at Chiral Interfaces, Surface Waves at Gyrotropic Interfaces, Nonlinear Surface Waves, Surface Plasmon Polaritons, Dyakonov Surface Waves, and other surface and transmission line modes.

[0180] The transmit system 1810 may also include additional components to facilitate the transmission of energy through the antenna 1820. For example, as shown in FIG. 21, the transmitter system 1810 further includes an oscillator 1830, an amplifier 1840, and an impedance and phase matching system 1845. In certain examples, the amplifier 1840 is a class D amplifier. In certain examples, the impedance matching system 1845 is a transformer or a matching network. As shown, the oscillator 1830 produces a carrier frequency that is amplified by the amplifier 1840, and the impedance matching system 1845 ensures that the impedance and phase is matched before the carrier frequency is sent to the antenna 1820 for transmission.

[0181] In certain examples, a reciprocal antenna (not shown) may also be used. For a system receiving such wireless power, a reciprocal antenna is often advantageous to maximize reception of near-field energy, but not always. The energy delivered to the antenna sets up fields at the antenna which are ideally the complex conjugate of the incident energy for maximum power delivery. Because the antennas are in each othersnear-fields, the fields on one antenna will affect the tuning of the other antenna(s) and so the impedance matching and phase tuning is performed to achieve maximum efficiency of power transfer. By being in each other’s near-fields, that means the antennas would be within about 1 wavelength distance of each other, ideally within about 0.3 wavelengths distance for high efficiency energy transfer. At 60 kHz this corresponds to about 1.6 km distance. Per the Fraunhofer distance limit, the range of efficient energy transfer (i.e., size of the near-field) increases by the square of the electrical size of the antenna divided by the wavelength, so small increases in the size of the antenna result in dramatically longer distances over which energy may be transferred at high efficiency. One of the advantages of each antenna operating in the near-field is that the phase of the energy does not change much versus the distance over which the system is designed to transfer energy efficiently, 1.6k m in this case. This is a significant advantage over far-field methods which would require expensive impedance and phase matching circuits to maintain the required phase of the induced vs. incident fields at the receive antenna for maximum efficiency. A further problem with far-field methods is the use of higher radio and microwave frequencies which causes the phase of the radio wave to change very quickly with distance which would be very expensive to track and control, especially at microwave frequencies. This is why many reported wireless power efficiencies at microwave frequencies are only reported at one range or power level due to the dramatic degradation of efficiency at other ranges without extensive retuning. Someone skilled in the art would recognize that for near-field coupling, multiple iterations of tuning may be required to optimize coupling from the source to the receivers via a manual or automated system due to the network of parasitic impedances which couple between antennas, referred to as frequency splitting. Automated tuning systems are ubiquitous in cell phones and other applications and would also be useful to optimize coupling efficiency in some wireless power applications when combined with a phase matching system. In circumstances where autotuning is not advantageous, or to maximize coupling efficiency, a round-robin charging system may be advantageous for charging in which all receiver antennas are open, short-circuited, terminated and / or disabled in other ways so power is sent to receivers one-at-a-time. In the round-robin method, each receiver takes turns or a time slot to charge in a way where the receiver obtains all the power it needs in one charging session to carry the receiving system over until the next charging period. Often round-robin charging methods include communications to closely monitor and coordinatecharging, but such communication may not be advantageous in some circumstances. It should be noted that for transmit antennas which are highly directional, the transmitter may be able to energize one or a few receiving antennas at a time eliminating the need for a round robin charging method.

[0182] In certain examples, the receiver system 1860 uses a monopole antenna 1870 for receiving the near-field electric field energy from the antenna 1820. In certain examples, the receiver antenna 1870 also uses the composite material 100. In certain examples, the antenna 1870 is a conical antenna. Despite the energy being predominantly in the electric field, some of the energy will also be in the magnetic field due to the timevarying nature of the fields. Because the receiver antenna 1870 has a high magnetic permeability, the capture area of the receiver antenna 1870 is increased by the permeability of 2,500 at 60 kHz. The effect of this high capture area is to greatly improve the efficiency of the transfer of near-field energy from the transmit antenna 1820 to the receiver antenna 1870 over large distances, which enables more than 90% of the near- field energy to couple between the antennas through the air when the antennas are separated by one-third of the wavelength, or 1.6 km. As described above, the tuning would enable the high efficiency wireless power coupling to occur over nearly all distances less than 1.6 km with efficiency improving at some closer ranges (i.e., as the antennas are physically closer in terms of wavelengths).

[0183] In certain examples, at the receiver system 1860, once the energy is received at the antenna 1870, the energy may be impedance and phase matched by an impedance matching system 1880, then the energy may be converted from AC to DC at converter 1885, then the energy may be sent to a battery charger 1890 before finally charging a battery 1895. In certain examples, the converter 1885 is a rectifier. Because of the development of highly efficient circuits for power supplies which operate in the 10s of kilohertz, an active Full-Wave-Bridge (FWB) rectifier for converting the radio signal into a DC signal would be expected to be more than 90% efficient. In certain examples, the converter 1885 is a FWB rectifier. For example, an active FWB based on the PT60R028G7 FET with a channel resistance of 28 milli-Ohms would be expected to have higher than 90% efficiency even down to the lowest amount of expected usable power for Internet of Things (loT) devices which often operate at 150 micro-Watts. For a FWB which needs to output at least 100 milli-Volts at 2 milli-Amps, a FWB based on the PT60R028G7 would have a voltage drop of 112 micro-Volts, delivering 99.7% of theinput energy to the load while also being able to operate continuously if driven with the full 300 Watts of the source amplifier as the PT60R028G7 is able to handle a maximum continuous power of 56kW.

[0184] In certain examples, the wireless power system 1800 may be used for powering loT devices. The composites used in the antennas 1820 and 1870 for powering loT devices would be similarly scaled in size based on the typical power requirements of less than 1 milli-Watt. The thickness would also be dictated by the voltage breakdown requirements of the ferrite and currents. Some ferrites have high breakdown voltages which is advantageous for high power applications like powering electric vehicles as they drive. For loT power requirements, a composite receiver antenna smaller than 0.5 inches diameter and less than 1 inch length is sufficient to meet the power requirements which is less than the size of a AA battery.

[0185] The overall efficiency of the example wireless power system 1800 is expected to be greater than 70% which comes from the facts that 90% of the 300 Watts of energy delivered to the transmit antenna 1820 is turned into the radio wave 1850; more than 80% of the transmitted energy is delivered to the receiver antenna 1870 within 1.6 km distance; and more than 99.7% of the received energy is available to a DC powered load such as a battery charger.

[0186] At a 70% efficiency, the described 300 Watt transmitter system 1810 would be able to deliver more than 215 Watts of power to a variety of products. A typical commercial grade loT safety and security sensor requires 150 micro-Watts of power. The described wireless power system could power more than 1.4 million commercial grade loT safety and security sensors within 1.6 km of the described 19.5 inch antenna at a total cost for the transmitter of less than $100. The receiver antenna cost may be made significantly less than $100 by the use of an electrically smaller antenna which reduces material costs while reducing the size of the antenna and by using lower cost FETs in the FWB which would also be smaller. The trade-off for smaller size and lower cost is efficiency. A typical safety and security system has about one hundred sensors. For a system with one thousand sensors, the efficiency of each receiver antenna may be reduced from more than 80% to less than 0.1% with a corresponding significant physical size reduction of the receiver antenna to about 0.1 inches long from 19.5 inches long. This enables the receiver antenna and associated electronics to all fit within the form factor ofa AA battery for powering loT devices, including a small battery to power the sensor in case of a power outage at the transmitter.

[0187] One skilled in the art would recognize that the new wireless power methods described enable energy-as-a-service in a way very similar to communication-as-a-service provided by cell phone communication networks. Networks of wireless power antennas may be designed to act in many ways like cellular communication networks with power handoff to receivers that move from an area close to one transmitter to an area close to a second transmitter.

[0188] In addition to providing power, the RF power beam may also be used for secure near-field or far-field communications. Data rates may be low using AM, FM, PM, and other traditional modulations, sometimes referred to as Signal Wireless Information and Power Transmission (SWIPT). For Non-LTI modulations, data rates up to 50% of the operating frequency may be obtained. For example, a wireless power signal operating at 60 kHz would be able to obtain wireless communication data rates up to 30 kHz using Non-LTI modulations for one-way or two-way sensor data, audio, video and other data.Propulsion Systems

[0189] Another example application of the discloses systems and methods are new propulsion systems. To understand how the new composites and methods may be used in propulsion, consider two long-range wireless power sources in communication with each other so that the electric, magnetic or both fields are incident to each other with the polarizations of each field the same in order to provide electric repulsion for the electric field, magnetic repulsion for the magnetic field or both electric and magnetic repulsion when both fields are polarized the same and phased the same. Magnetic repulsion force is similar to the repulsion force experienced when two magnets are brought in close proximity, such as with Magnetically Levitating (MAGLEV) trains which are lifted, propelled, and receive power from a source of magnetic power in a train track. With the long-range and efficient wireless power methods described in the present disclosure, practical techniques for implementing long-range electric propulsion and MAGLEV at vast distances are possible at low-cost. Similar to a repulsion force caused by either or both the electric and magnetic field being polarized, or oriented in like ways, an attraction force is generated when either or both the electric and magnetic fields are polarized inopposing polarizations, or directions. For magnetic fields, such an attractive force is similar to two magnets in which the north pole of one magnet is brought within close proximity to the south pole of another magnet. For a time-varying electric, magnetic or electromagnetic field, and the careful phasing of such fields at each source to control the field polarization and phases at the interface between the fields, a lifting, pulling, propulsion and rotational forces may be applied to a vehicle or multiple vehicles.

[0190] For example, lift, propulsion, and rotational forces may be applied to passenger aircraft so that they no longer need to store fuel except for emergency circumstances. UAV package delivery may be performed in lightweight vehicles. Spacecraft may be launched into and brought back from space very gently, including extraordinarily heavy objects and valuable objects such as asteroids.

[0191] Magnetodielectric composites and techniques described in the present disclosure may be used to extend the electromagnetic near-field to vast distances by the construction of electrically large antennas which are physically small and low cost. Propulsion by near fields and Fresnel fields focused better than the diffraction limit are not new ideas and have been used in MAGLEV trains and levitating toys, but now may be extended to vast distances.

[0192] Using the 10 Tera-Watt directed energy system described above, such a system could also be used to generate very large and well controlled polarized and phased fields continuously delivering 10 Mega-Watts of propulsion power to a very small electromagnetic source located 100 km distance on a vehicle, such as a spacecraft. At 1 kHz operating frequency, the system would only work up to about 100 km altitude before the ionosphere would begin to degrade the propulsion force. The propulsive force of two electric fields which are polarized the same is the product of the magnitude of the electric fields. Similarly, the propulsive force of two magnetic fields which are polarized the same is the product of the magnitudes of the magnetic fields. Because in the electromagnetic near-field, there is no strict requirement of energy balance between the electric near-field and magnetic near-field, the energy and propulsion force delivered by each field may be somewhat independent. Because the human body is less sensitive to electric field energy as compared to magnetic field energy, it may be advantageous to put all or a significant portion of the energy in the electric field, while putting low enough energy into the magnetic field so that heavy shielding is not required.

[0193] For the 10 Mega-Watt continuously powered directed energy example, the focal point at 100 km is reduced to about 500 meters in radius and the field strength may be up to 61.4 kV per meter at 100 km distance, neglecting losses. For a spacecraft generating a 1 kW electric field close to the spacecraft which polarizes the fields to match the incoming field from the 10 MW ground source, the field strength may be up to 614 V / m in a small vicinity near the source. Fields may need to be spread over 3 meters diameter to avoid voltage breakdown at low atmospheric pressures at high altitudes. The resulting force would vary with time as the 1 kHz sinusoid varies in amplitude from 0 V / m to the peak amplitudes, but such fast variations at 1 kHz would likely not result in a noticeable variation in acceleration for fields whose polarizations are well controlled by mechanical and electrical steering in addition to electromagnetic field and inertial sensing on the ground and at the vehicle. A flight profile may also be used to implement propulsion in a way in which neither the ground source or vehicle source are highly monitored or controlled for the purposes of propulsion, but the phasing of the fields are pre-planned based on flight profiles. Because a 1 kHz wavelength in air is 300 km, the phasing and polarization of the 1 kHz wavefront would not be a significant challenge over a 100 km distance.

[0194] For a ground source delivering 614 kV / m at a vehicle which itself is generating 614 V / m, the resulting peak propulsion force is over 37 million Newtons, which is more thrust than the peak force delivered by the Saturn 5 rockets which delivered a peak propulsive force of 35.7 million Newtons to deliver humans to the moon in the 1960s. The fields would be spaced over 30 meters to avoid voltage breakdown at low atmospheric pressures. For a massive spacecraft that weighs as much as then Saturn 5 rockets (29 million kilograms), the spacecraft could be gently lifted at 1 G force and still achieve escape velocity before the spacecraft reached the ionosphere at 100 km. The launch of such a spacecraft would be much less dramatic than the launch of a Saturn 5 rocket and would look more like an ocean liner moving slowly away from port, but such a vehicle would enable anyone to travel to space and many new capabilities. Such a spacecraft would reach escape velocity in less than 40 minutes with on-board propulsion power less than the power consumed by a consumer grade microwave oven.

[0195] Just like MAGLEV trains which are powered by some of the magnetic fields coupling into power circuits, such a spacecraft may also receive operational power from the same ground source providing propulsion fields and communicate with the groundsource. This energy may be delivered by a different set of antennas on the spacecraft set to conjugately match the fields at the antenna. By conjugately matching the incident and induced fields at the power receiving antenna, energy is delivered to the spacecraft with maximum efficiency. Because the fields are 300 km in size and vary very slowly at 1 kHz, maintaining conjugately phase fields at the receive antenna may be performed by a simple analog tracking circuit. The spacecraft may need more than 1 kW of power for lighting, life support, IMU, guidance, or other functions, but the size of the receive antenna may be scaled to collect the level of power needed and with a significantly lower requirement of power on the spacecraft it may not be necessary to use a high index magnetodielectric antenna to receive power.

[0196] In another example, the ground source may be a 3 kHz source which receives power continuously from a 10 Mega-Watt generator to propel a vehicle the size of a 747 aircraft. The 747 aircraft typically generates about 1.3 Million Newtons from all four engines and flies up to an altitude of about 14 km. Using an antenna array 2.7 km by 2.7 km in size, the focal point of the energy is about 65 meters. With a 747 having an area of about 500 meter-squared and such a narrow beam, we can provide multiple antennas on the 747 for lift, such as one lift point near the nose and three lift points mid-body similar to the location of the wheel supports. For a 40 meter-squared antennas, the required 1.3 million Newtons of propulsion may be achieved with a 2 kV / m field generated by the ground source and about 650 V / m field generated by the antennas on the aircraft with the field polarized the same and in-phase. Again, the aircraft would have size, weight, and thrust similar to that of a 747 aircraft using less on-board power than is required by a consumer microwave oven.

[0197] Those skilled in the art would recognize that other features may be included in the propulsion system to improve capabilities such as multiple antennas and polarizations in order to add more degrees of freedom to the vehicle motions, including complex maneuvers not possible with modern aircraft which require airflow to perform maneuvers. The propulsion system may include close communication between the ground source and the vehicle to coordinate each action and the field phases and polarizations necessary to implement the desired motions in addition to electrical and / or mechanical beam steering. The vehicle may have complex systems for monitoring the current state of the vehicle, including incident and generated fields, sensing of the mismatch between the propulsion field phasing and polarizations, sensing of accelerations, velocities, position, andorientations along with systems which predict the future state of the vehicle which may be used in the control law at the vehicle and possibly also at the ground system. The system may include redundancies such as additional systems of ground antennas to take over quickly should the primary system fail or act in concert with the primary system to provide a particular flight maneuver and a hand-off procedure so a secondary or redundant system becomes the primary system should the vehicle move out of range of the primary system or in case the primary system fails. In a similar manner, the vehicle may include redundant systems for propulsion and may also include other backup systems such as battery powered or jet fueled systems for emergency purposes or loss of appropriate ground propulsion.

[0198] Schematics of an example vehicle propulsion system 1900 is shown in FIG. 22. In certain examples, the propulsion system 1900 uses the composite materials disclosed above. As shown, the propulsion system includes at least one ground station 1910 and a vehicle 1950. In certain examples, the vehicle 1950 is an automobile with wheels, airplane, spacecraft, or a UAV. In certain examples, the vehicle 1950 includes a first antenna array 1960 and a second antenna array 1970. Additional antenna arrays may be used but are not shown in this example. In certain examples, the vehicle 1950 includes a sensor and guidance system 1980.

[0199] The sensor system 1980 may include, for example, processors, sensors, controllers, and communications equipment, etc. for determining position and movement of the vehicle 1950 and for providing feedback to other systems, including to a ground sensor system 1940. In certain examples, the sensor system 1980 measures inertial measurement data, propulsion signals, and manages control laws for the vehicle 1950. In certain examples, the sensor system 1980 sends communications signals 1982 to the ground station 1910. In certain examples, the sensor system 1980 receives communications signals 1942 from the ground station 1910. In certain examples, the sensor system 1980 estimates future states of the vehicle 1950 and generates control laws based on a desired state, feedback state, or commanded state. In certain examples, the sensor system 1980 includes system monitoring, displays, alarms, automatic controls, and fail safes. In certain examples, the sensor system 1980 includes sensors for position, velocity, acceleration, altitude, and detectors for strengths, polarizations, and phases of local propulsion fields. In certain examples, the sensor system 1980 controls additional means of propulsion on the vehicle 1950 such as torquers, reaction wheels, fans, jets,rockets, wings, etc. In certain examples, the sensor system 1980 works in cooperation with a ground sensor system 1940.

[0200] The first and second antenna arrays 1960, 1970 may be made from any of the composite materials described above. In certain examples, the first and second antenna arrays 1960, 1970 use the composite materials 100 or 200. As described above, the required size of the antenna arrays are proportionate to the size, weight, and desired acceleration of the vehicle. In certain examples, the first and second antenna arrays 1960, 1970 are each 40 square meters in area, for example, a 5 meter by 8 meter array. In certain examples, the first and second antenna arrays 1960, 1970 are each 20 square meters in area, for example, a 5 meter by 4 meter array. In certain examples, the first and second antenna arrays 1960, 1970 are each 9 square meters, for example, a 3 meter by 3 meter array.

[0201] In certain examples, the ground station 1910 includes a first ground antenna array 1920, a second ground antenna array 1930, and a ground sensor system 1940. In certain examples, the first and second ground antenna arrays 1920 and 1930 are made from the same material as the first and second antenna arrays 1960, 1970. In certain examples, the first ground antenna 1920 sends energy to one or both of the first and second antennas 1960, 1970. In certain examples, the first ground antenna 1920 sends a first propulsion wave / field 1922 that is directed to the first antenna array 1960. In certain examples, the first ground antenna 1920 sends a second propulsion wave / field 1924 that is directed to the second antenna array 1970. In certain examples, the second ground antenna 1930 sends a first propulsion wave / field 1932 that is directed to the first antenna array 1970. In certain examples, the second ground antenna 1930 sends a second propulsion wave / field 1934 that is directed to the second antenna array 1970. As described above, controlling and sending propulsion waves / fields 1922, 1924, 1932, 1934 to different parts of the vehicle 1950 from different points on the ground enables complex movement of the vehicle 1950. In certain examples, the second ground antenna array 1930 is used as a backup for redundancy.

[0202] The ground sensor system 1940 may include, for example, processors, sensors, controllers, and communications equipment, etc. for determining position and movement of the vehicle 1950 and for providing feedback to other systems, including to the sensor system 1980. In certain examples, the ground sensor system 1940 measures inertial measurement data, propulsion signals, and manages control laws for the ground station1910. In certain examples, the ground sensor system 1940 sends communications signals 1942 to the vehicle 1950. In certain examples, the ground sensor system 1940 receives communications signals 1982 from the vehicle 1950. In certain examples, the ground sensor system 1940 estimates future states of the vehicle 1950 and generates control laws based on a desired state, feedback state, or commanded state. In certain examples, the ground sensor system 1940 includes system monitoring, displays, alarms, automatic controls, and fail safes. In certain examples, the ground sensor system 1940 includes sensors for position, velocity, acceleration, altitude, and detectors for strengths of local propulsion fields. In certain examples, the ground sensor system controls additional means of propulsion on the vehicle 1950 such as torquers, reaction wheels, fans, jets, rockets, etc.

[0203] Although not shown, it is intended that there may be multiple ground stations 1910 spread across certain distances, such that propulsion of the vehicle 1950 may be switched between ground stations 1910 as the vehicle 1950 moves across certain distances, analogous to cell towers sending a cell signal. The need for, and spacing of, additional ground stations 1910 is dependent on the purpose of the vehicle 1950. Similar to how power may be provided in a round-robin fashion, propulsion to many vehicles may be provided by one source in a time-sharing manner.

[0204] It should be understood that the present disclosure relates to numerous other potential applications and that the above described applications are intended as nonlimiting examples. Additional potential applications are described in U.S.20240025143 Al; U.S. 9,263,804; and U.S. 7,928,900, which are hereby incorporated in their entirety.

[0205] The various embodiments described above are provided by way of illustration only and should not be construed to limit the claims attached hereto. Those skilled in the art will readily recognize various modifications and changes that may be made without following the example embodiments and applications illustrated and described herein, and without departing from the full scope of the following claims.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. A magnetodielectric composite material comprising: a first layer defining a first high permittivity material, the first layer defining a first layer first side and a first layer second side; and a second layer defining a second high permittivity material, the second layer defining a second layer first side and a second layer second side, the second layer second side interfacing with the first layer second side, the second high permittivity material defining a characteristic impedance within a factor of 50 of the first high permittivity material, the first high permittivity material having a greater index of refraction than the second high permittivity material.

2. The magnetodielectric composite material of claim 1, wherein the composite further defines a third layer defining a third high permittivity material, the third layer defining a third layer first side and a third layer second side, the third layer first side interfacing with the second layer first side, the third high permittivity material defining a characteristic impedance within a factor of 50 of the second high permittivity material, the second high permittivity material having a greater index of refraction than the third high permittivity material.

3. The magnetodielectric composite material of claim 2, wherein the composite further defines a fourth layer defining a fourth high permittivity material, the fourth layer defining a fourth layer first side and a fourth layer second side, the fourth layer second side interfacing with the third layer second side, the fourth high permittivity material defining a characteristic impedance within a factor of 50 of the third high permittivity material, the third high permittivity material having a greater index of refraction than the fourth high permittivity material.

4. The magnetodielectric composite material of claim 3, wherein the fourth high permittivity material has an index of refraction within a factor of 50 of an index of refraction of air.

595. The magnetodielectric composite of claim 1, wherein the second high permittivity material defines a characteristic impedance within a factor of 10 of the first high permittivity material.

6. The magnetodielectric composite of claim 2, wherein the third high permittivity material defines a characteristic impedance within a factor of 10 of the second high permittivity material.

7. The magnetodielectric composite of claim 3, wherein the fourth high permittivity material defines a characteristic impedance within a factor of 10 of the third high permittivity material.

8. The magnetodielectric composite of claim 4, wherein the fourth high permittivity material has an index of refraction within a factor of 10 of an index of refraction of air.

9. The magnetodielectric composite of claim 3, wherein the fourth layer first side interfaces with air.

10. The magnetoelectric composite of claim 1, wherein the first layer first side interfaces with a conductor.

11. The magnetodielectric composite of claim 1, wherein each layer is sized proportionate to an index of refraction of a respective layer.

12. The magnetodielectric composite of claim 1, wherein each layer defines a triangular cross-section.

13. The magnetodielectric composite of claim 1, wherein the first and second high permittivity materials are first and second ferrite materials.

14. The magnetodielectric composite of claim 3, wherein the first, second, third, and fourth high permittivity materials are corresponding first, second, third, and fourth ferrite materials.6015. The magnetodielectric composite of claim 1, wherein the second layer second side is angled relative to the second layer first side such that an electromagnetic wave of a desired frequency reaches an interface between the second layer second side and the first layer second side at a Brewster angle as measured from an interface axis extending normal to the interface.

16. The magnetodielectric composite of claim 2, wherein the second layer second side is angled relative to the second layer first side such that an electromagnetic wave of a desired frequency reaches a first interface between the second layer second side and the first layer second side at a Brewster angle as measured from a first interface axis extending normal to the first interface, wherein the second layer first side is angled such that the electromagnetic wave of the desired frequency reaches a second interface between the second layer first side and the third layer first side at a Brewster angle as measured from a second interface axis extending normal to the second interface.

17. The magnetodielectric composite of claim 3, wherein the second layer second side is angled relative to the second layer first side such that an electromagnetic wave of a desired frequency reaches a first interface between the second layer second side and the first layer second side at a Brewster angle as measured from a first interface axis extending normal to the first interface, wherein the second layer first side is angled such that the electromagnetic wave of the desired frequency reaches a second interface between the second layer first side and the third layer first side at a Brewster angle as measured from a second interface axis extending normal to the second interface, wherein the third layer second side is angled relative to the third layer first side such that the electromagnetic wave of the desired frequency reaches a third interface between the third layer second side and the fourth layer second side at a Brewster angle as measured from a third interface axis extending normal to the third interface.

18. The magnetodielectric composite material of claim 1, wherein the permittivity of the first and second high permittivity materials is at least an order or magnitude greater than a permeability of the first and second high permittivity materials.6119. A magnetodielectric composite material comprising: a plurality of layers in a stacked configuration, the plurality of layers including an exterior layer, a plurality of inner layers, and an interior layer, the exterior layer having an impedance within an order of magnitude of an impedance of air, the exterior layer having an index of refraction within an order of magnitude of an index of refraction of air, the exterior layer neighboring, and interfacing with, the plurality of inner layers at an exterior region, the interior layer neighboring, and interfacing with, the plurality of inner layers at an interior region, each layer having an index of refraction within an order of magnitude of each neighboring layer, the plurality of layers defining a gradient of index of refraction such that the index of refraction through the composite material increases at each layer from the exterior layer to the interior layer.

20. The magnetodielectric composite material of claim 19, wherein each layer of the plurality of layers is a high permittivity composite material.

21. The magnetodielectric composite material of claim 19, wherein the interior layer contacts a conductor.

22. The magnetodielectric composite material of claim 19, wherein each layer of the plurality of layers is a ferrite composite material.

23. A magnetodielectric composite material comprising: a first layer defining a first high permeability material, the first layer defining a first layer first side and a first layer second side; and a second layer defining a second high permeability material, the second layer defining a second layer first side and a second layer second side, the second layer second side interfacing with the first layer second side, the second high permeability material defining a characteristic impedance within a factor of 50 of the first high permittivity material, the first high permeability material having a greater index of refraction than the second high permeability material.6224. The magnetodielectric composite material of claim 23, wherein the permeability of the first and second high permeability materials is at least an order or magnitude greater than a permittivity of the first and second high permeability materials.

25. The magnetodielectric composite material of claim 23, wherein the composite further defines a third layer defining a third high permeability material, the third layer defining a third layer first side and a third layer second side, the third layer first side interfacing with the second layer first side, the third high permeability material defining a characteristic impedance within a factor of 50 of the second high permeability material, the second high permeability material having a greater index of refraction than the third high permeability material.

26. The magnetodielectric composite material of claim 25, wherein the composite further defines a fourth layer defining a fourth high permeability material, the fourth layer defining a fourth layer first side and a fourth layer second side, the fourth layer second side interfacing with the third layer second side, the fourth high permeability material defining a characteristic impedance within a factor of 50 of the third high permittivity material, the third high permeability material having a greater index of refraction than the fourth high permeability material.

27. The magnetodielectric composite material of claim 26, wherein the fourth high permeability material has an index of refraction within a factor of 50 of an index of refraction of air.

28. A magnetodielectric composite material comprising: a plurality of layers in a stacked configuration, the plurality of layers including a first layer, a plurality of inner layers, and a last layer, wherein the first layer has a ratio of permittivity over permeability that is greater than 50, wherein the last layer has a ratio of permittivity over permeability that is equal to 1, and wherein each of the plurality of inner layers is stacked in order of decreasing ratio of permittivity to permeability such that the ratio of permittivity to permeability steps down from the first layer to the last layer.6329. An electromagnetic wave antenna comprising: a high permittivity composite defining a plurality of layers stacked from an exterior to an interior, each layer having an increasing index of refraction from the exterior to the interior; a conductor contacting the high permittivity composite at the interior.

30. An electromagnetic wave antenna comprising: a high permeability composite defining a plurality of layers stacked from an exterior to an interior, each layer having an increasing index of refraction from the exterior to the interior; a conductor contacting the high permeability composite at the interior.

31. An electromagnetic wave antenna comprising: a composite including at least one layer, the composite having an exterior side and an interior side, the composite having an index of refraction within an order of magnitude of an index of refraction of air; and a conductor contacting the composite at the interior side of the composite, the conductor having a conical shape, the composite surrounding an exterior of the conductor.

32. The electromagnetic wave antenna of claim 31, wherein the composite is a high permittivity and high permeability material, wherein the permittivity and permeability are within a factor of 10 of each other.

33. The electromagnetic wave antenna of claim 31, wherein the composite is a ferrite material.

34. The electromagnetic wave antenna of claim 31, wherein the conductor’s conical shape defines a cone angle that is within 15 degrees of a Snells angle defined by an air / composite interface at a desired frequency of operation.

35. An electromagnetic wave antenna comprising: a high-index, low-loss metamaterial defining at least one resonator, the at least one resonator having an index of refraction less than 1 about a first direction; and a conductor, the conductor having a conical shape, the resonator surrounding an exterior of the conductor, the first direction being angled relative to the exterior of the conductor.

36. An electromagnetic wave antenna comprising: a high permeability and high permittivity ferrite metamaterial defining at least one resonator, the at least one resonator having an index of refraction less than 1 about a first direction; and a conductor, the conductor having a conical shape, the resonator surrounding an exterior of the conductor, the first direction being angled relative to the exterior of the conductor.

37. An electromagnetic wave antenna comprising: an antenna body defining a horn body, the horn body defining an interior space, the horn body defining a forward end and a rearward end, the forward end being open to send or receive signals; a metamaterial positioned within the interior space of the horn body, the metamaterial defining at least one resonator, the at least one resonator having an index of refraction less than 1 about a first axis, the first axis extending from the forward end to the rearward end; and a conductor positioned at the rearward end of the horn body.

38. An electromagnetic wave antenna comprising: an antenna body defining a horn body, the horn body defining an interior space, the horn body defining a forward end and a rearward end, the forward end being open to send or receive signals; a multi-layer composite positioned within the interior space of the horn body, the composite defining a first layer, a plurality of inner layers, and a last layer, wherein the first layer has an index of refraction greater than 1,000, wherein the last layer has an index of refraction that is equal to 1, and wherein each of the plurality of inner layers isstacked in order of decreasing index of refraction such that the index of refraction steps down from the first layer to the last layer; and a conductor positioned at the rearward end of the horn body.

39. An electromagnetic wave Luneberg lens comprising: a multilayer composite surrounding a central energy source, the composite having an inner layer, at least one intermediate layer, and an outer layer, the outer layer having an index of refraction at or near 1, the inner layer having an index of refraction of at least 100, each layer of the Luneberg lens made of a ferrite material, the at least one intermediate layer positioned between the inner layer and the outer layer, each layer of the Luneberg lens having an increasing index of refraction from the outer layer to the inner layer, and the central energy source emitting energy through the Luneberg lens.

40. An electromagnetic wave Luneberg lens comprising: a multilayer composite surrounding a central energy source, the composite having an inner layer, at least one intermediate layer, and an outer layer, the outer layer having an index of refraction at or near 1, the inner layer having an index of refraction of at least 1,000, each layer of the Luneberg lens made of a high permittivity material, the at least one intermediate layer positioned between the inner layer and the outer layer, each layer of the Luneberg lens having an increasing index of refraction from the outer layer to the inner layer, and the central energy source capable emitting energy through the Luneberg lens.

41. An electromagnetic wave waveguide comprising: a first material defining a wave path; and a second material surrounding at least a portion of the first material, the second material defining a reflection surface at an interface between the first material and the second material, the second material having an index of refraction at least two orders of magnitude less than the first material, the reflection surface preventing a wave from escaping the wave path.6642. A directed energy system comprising: an antenna array, the antenna array including a plurality of antennas, each antenna including a conductor and a layered composite, each layer of the composite having a different index of refraction, the layered composite including an outer layer, a plurality of middle layers, and an inner layer, the outer layer interfacing with air and having an index of refraction of 1, and the inner layer having an index of refraction of at least 1,000; a capacitor array connected to the antenna array, the capacitor array being designed to hold charge and discharge an amount of energy sufficient to power the antenna array; a power plant connected to the capacitor array, the power plant being designed to produce sufficient energy to charge the capacitor array; and a control panel designed to control the directed energy system, the control panel capable of directing the power plant to charge the capacitor array, the control panel capable of discharging the capacitor array, the control panel capable of aiming the antenna array.

43. A wireless power system comprising: a transmitter system including a transmit antenna, an oscillator, an amplifier, and a phase matching system, the transmit antenna including a conductor and a layered composite, each layer of the composite having a different index of refraction, the layered composite including an outer layer, a plurality of middle layers, and an inner layer, the outer layer interfacing with air and having an index of refraction of 1, the inner layer having an index of refraction of at least 1,000, wherein the oscillator is capable of producing a carrier frequency that can be amplified by the amplifier, wherein the phase matching system is capable of matching the impedance and phase of the carrier frequency, and wherein the transmit antenna is capable of transmitting the carrier frequency coming from the phase matching system; and a receiver system, including a receiver antenna, an impedance matching system, an AC / DC converter, and a battery, the receiver antenna capable of receiving a signal from the transmit antenna, the receiver antenna capable of sending the received signal through the impedance matching system, the AC / DC converter, and eventually to the battery, wherein the battery is capable of being charged by the received signal, the transmitter system being physically separated from the receiver system.6744. A propulsion system comprising: a ground station including a first antenna array, a second antenna array, and a ground sensor system, the first and second antenna arrays each including a plurality of antennas, each antenna including a conductor and a layered composite, each layer of the composite having a different index of refraction, the layered composite including an outer layer, a plurality of middle layers, and an inner layer, the outer layer interfacing with air and having an index of refraction of 1, and the inner layer having an index of refraction of at least 1,000; and a vehicle including a first vehicle antenna array, a second vehicle antenna array, and a vehicle sensor system, the first vehicle antenna array capable of conjugately matching incident and induced fields transmitted by either the first antenna array or the second antenna array, the second vehicle antenna array capable of conjugately matching incident and induced fields transmitted by either the first antenna array or the second antenna array, the vehicle sensor system capable of sending and receiving information with the ground sensor system.68

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