Compressible ionogel-based metamaterial enabling frequency tuning and bandwidth expansion of antennas

Le résumé fourni par la source

Abstract Emerging multifunctional communication systems require adaptive antennas with cross-band tunability and reconfigurable bandwidth; however, achieving these capabilities through passive mechanisms remains challenging. This work presents a mechanically reconfigurable microstrip antenna based on a structured ionogel metamaterial dielectric layer. By engineering the unit-cell configuration of ionogel cylindrical, a synergistic dielectric-geometric coupling mechanism is introduced to mitigate the impedance mismatch commonly associated with single-parameter tuning. Based on effective medium theory (EMT), mechanical compression simultaneously modifies the solid–air volume fraction and substrate thickness, enabling controllable modulation of the resonant cavity. Results show that this structural evolution induces a shift in the resonant frequencies and significantly expands the impedance bandwidth. Under 57% compression, the S-band resonance shifts from 3.99 GHz to 3.77 GHz, while the dominant resonance in the C/X band moves from 10 GHz to 6.62 GHz, resulting in a 53% increase in impedance bandwidth compared with the uncompressed state. Throughout the tuning process, the antenna maintains a radiation efficiency of over 70% and a realized gain of over 4 dBi. These results confirm that compressible ionogel metamaterial dielectric layers can function as tunable dielectric components, offering a viable approach for dual-functional IoT applications that combine robust communication with passive strain sensing.

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