Experimental Synthetic Aperture Radar with Dynamic Metasurfaces

We investigate the use of a dynamic metasurface as the transmitting antenna for a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging system. The dynamic metasurface consists of a 1-D microstrip waveguide with complementary electric resonator (cELC) elements patterned into the upper conductor. Integrated into each of the cELCs are two diodes that can be used to shift each cELC resonance out of band with an applied voltage. The aperture is designed to operate at $K$-band frequencies (17.5-20.3 GHz). We experimentally demonstrate imaging with a fabricated metasurface aperture using well-known SAR modalities, showing image quality comparable to traditional antennas. The agility of this aperture allows it to operate in spotlight and stripmap SAR modes, as well as in a third modality inspired by computational imaging strategies. We describe the dynamic metasurface antenna's operation in detail, demonstrate high-quality imaging in both 2-D and 3-D, and examine various tradeoffs governing the integration of dynamic metasurfaces in the future SAR imaging platforms.

Duke Scholars

Author Michael Boyarsky  

Author David R. Smith Electrical and Computer Engineering