Frequency re-configurable metal-graphene hybrid MIMO patch antenna for terahertz communication

Abstract

Abstract This paper proposes a novel metal-graphene plasmonic antenna over a Si/SiO2 substrate, working in terahertz frequency band. Novelty of the work lies in the use of metal and graphene as a patch antenna, as this combination enhances the gain & the radiation efficiency of the whole structure. Besides the analysis provides detailing of graphene and its conductivity modelling using MATLAB. The antenna is analyzed using FDTD based CST software, conductivity of graphene used in CST is verified with the conductivity achieved using MATLAB. Further, a 3-element Multiple Input and Multiple Output (MIMO) antenna system using same single element antenna, is designed & analyzed. The metal-graphene hybrid patch antenna provides maximum directivity around 5.8 dBi, maximum gain around 5 dBi, and high radiation efficiency (approx. 80%) at resonant frequency of 1.8 THz. Besides, the 3-element MIMO antenna provides radiation efficiency around 77%, with directivity around 5 dB & diversity gain of around 10 dBi. The proposed metal-graphene hybrid MIMO patch antenna has the potential to be used in advanced THz communication systems.