Miniaturization Methods for NarrowBand and Ultra-Wideband Antennas
John L. Volakis
The Ohio State University
Electrical and Computer Engineering Dept.
ElectroScience Laboratory
It is well-recognized that materials design is the last frontier in developing novel antennas that are much smaller and integrate greater multi-functionality than ever before. Such needs stem from the unprecedented growth of commercial wireless communications and related research is highly fueled by growth in commercial and defense multi-band and high bandwidth future communication systems. This presentation will discuss how modified materials, (L,C) lumped loads and low loss magnetic materials/crystals (metamaterials) are impacting antenna design with the goal of overcoming miniaturization challenges (viz. bandwidth and gain reduction, multi-functionality etc.). Dielectric design and texturing has for example lead to reduced UHF antennas by more than a factor of 2 while still retaining a 30% bandwidth and 4dBi gain for a 6” aperture. Further, recent magnetic photonic crystals (MPCs) hold a promise for antenna/array miniaturization. MPCs are comprised from a combination of available materials which exhibit new phenomena when placed in a periodic structure. Among them is small reflectivity at their interface and large field amplitude growth within the crystal. Practical realizations of these new materials are poised to challenge computational and design methods for a variety of RF applications.
John L. Volakis was born in Chios, Greece in 1956 and immigrated to the U.S.A. in 1973. He obtained his B.E. Degree in 1978 from Youngstown State Univ., the M.Sc. in 1979 from the Ohio State University, and the Ph.D. degree in 1982, also from Ohio State. He is currently the Director of the Ohio State University ElectroScience Laboratory and the Chope Chair Professor of Engineering in the Dept. of Electrical Engineering. From 1984-2002 he was on the faculty of the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, College of Engineering, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. He also served as the Director of the University of Michigan Radiation Laboratory for 1998-2000. From 1982-1984 he was with Rockwell International, Aircraft Division (now Boeing Phantom works) and from 1978-1982 he was a Graduate Research Associate at the Ohio State ElectroScience Lab. His research has covered antennas, radar scattering, wireless communication, RF propagation, bioelectromagnetics, and MEMS multiphysics design. He is best known for introducing hybrid finite element techniques and formal design methods for electromagnetic applications. He maintains close collaboration with faculty in the Material Science, Mechanical, Biomedical, Aerospace and Applied Mathematics Departments on multidisciplinary projects, and directs the Air Force MURI on Novel Materials for Conformal Antennas. During the past 20 years, Prof. Volakis graduated over 30 Ph.D. students, mentored 10 post-docs and published over 220 articles in major refereed journal articles. He has also published more than 260 conference papers, several book chapters and co-authored two books: Approximate Boundary Conditions in Electromagnetics (Institution of Electrical Engineers, 1995) and Finite Element Method for Electromagnetics (IEEE Press, 1998). In 1998 he received the University of Michigan College of Engineering Research Excellence award and in 2001 he received his department's Service Excellence award. Prof. Volakis was elected Fellow of the IEEE in 1996 and has served on the editorial board of several journals. He is currently the President of the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society and serves as the Technical Chair of the Int. Radio Science Union (URSI). He was the 1993 IEEE AP-S symposium general chair, held in Ann Arbor, MI and the co-chair of the same symposium held in Columbus in 2003.