Optical Dielectric Resonator Antenna

1,2

Abhinav Bhardwaj 1*, Dinesh Kumar V.2 Indian Institute of Information Technology Design and Manufacturing, Jabalpur Electronics & Communication Department, Jabalpur, India * A.Bhardwaj (E-mail : abhinaviiitdm@gmail.com)
DRA working in optical frequency range. We call it Optical Dielectric Resonator Antenna (ODRA). To our knowledge this is the first study of a DRA in optical frequencies. II. SIMULATION PROCESS

AbstractIn this paper we propose that a dielectric dot on the top of a ground plane could act as an antenna in optical frequency range. We investigate its electromagnetic properties numerically and observe that its behaviors are similar to dielectric resonator antenna in radio frequency. Further we optimize the aspect ratio of optical dielectric resonator antenna based on return loss, study the fundamental resonant frequency for different dielectric constant, and verify the array pattern multiplication for proposed optical antenna. Using the array of optical dielectric resonator antenna, we could achieve high directivity. We believe that optical dielectric resonator antenna could open new possibilities to study the novel phenomenon of light matter interaction. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of dielectric resonator antenna in optical frequencies. Keywords- Optical dielectric resonator antenna; Slot; Array factor.

The hemispherical ODRA having bottom radius a and central radius b placed on a Gold ground plane and the structure is illuminated by using broad band plane wave sources from the Gold side, by cutting a slot in ground plane normal to their surface as shown in figs 1a, b and c. b a

I.

INTRODUCTION

The properties of antenna have been studied in great detail at radio frequencies. But recently there has been growing interest to downscale the radio frequency (RF) antennas towards optical frequencies to fulfill the ever-increasing demand for faster information transport that require high band width. In addition to having several novel applications, optical antennas are also useful in biological imaging, artificially enhancing the absorption cross-section or quantum yield of optoelectronic devices (e.g. solar cells) etc [1-5]. In the last few years there have been several studies reporting the properties of dipole and bowtie type plasmonic nanoantennas in optical frequency range [6]. Although the behavior of plasmonic antennas seems similar to RF antennas, there are some important differences [7]. Its because the detailed situation at optical and RF/microwave is very different. Nevertheless the optical antenna design can benefit a great deal from traditional antenna design experiences. In RF domain dielectric cylinders of very high permittivity (relative dielectric constants of the order of 100 -300) are used as resonant cavities for storage of electromagnetic (EM) energy. The same structure could radiate EM energies and can act like antenna if the dielectric constant is lowered down ( 5 r 20) called Dielectric Resonator Antennas (DRAs) [8]. The properties of DRAs of other geometrical forms were studied both theoretically and experimentally [9]. The dielectric antennas have some advantages such as light weight, less loss, more degrees of freedom, ease of fabrication, higher radiation efficiency etc [9-11] . In this paper, we proposed and report the properties of a hemispherical shape dielectric dot placed on a gold film, as a

c Here dimensions are in nanometer (nm)

Fig.1. (a) a, b is the bottom radius and central radius of ODRA in nm (b) Plane wave excitation of ODRA (c) Slot of length W and width t in nm.

The directivity, radiation pattern, and other EM properties of the proposed structure are studied using CST MICROWAVE STUDIO software. The mesh density of simulation region is controlled using 20 lines per wavelength, 15 lower mesh limit, 20 mesh line ratio limit with hexahedral mesh type. The dielectric function of Gold ground plane, used by the software, has been derived by fitting a Drude model ( )=2-( p2)/ ( -i ) into the experimental data provided by Johnson and Christy. Here p the electron plasma frequency (1.296X1016 radian per second) and is the scattering frequency (1.265 X 1014 Hz) for bulk material at = 1.3 m [12].The simulation region is terminated by perfectly match layer (PML) boundary in all direction. Before simulating the actual structure, we simulated a plasmonic nanoantenna

978-1-4577-0058-3/12/$26.00 2012 IEEE

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from the published paper and found the results in well agreement [6]. This validated our simulation procedure. III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

First we swept the parameters to optimize the dimension of slot based on return losses (S11 parameters) for proper excitation of ODRA. It is found that for the bottom radius (a=400 nm) of ORDA optimum slot dimension: length w=666.6 nm and width t= 34.02 nm. It has multi resonance behavior as shown in fig 2 different dips showing different modes of excitation like the DRAs in RF. It is also found that the return loss of antenna is strongly influenced by the aspect ratio (b/a) of antenna. So we optimize the aspect ratio of ODRA in term of return losses as shown in fig 2. We have used the same aspect ratio (1.4137) for further study.

and slot also through near and far field monitor. Through the amplitude of electric field recoded by probe, it is found that due to coupling of ODRA and slot both have same resonance frequency but resonance pick of slot is missing when delete the dot from the same simulation setup in that frequency range as shown in fig 3a. It is also found that the amplitude of resultant electric field and the value of resonance frequency decrease as increase the slot dimension parallel to the polarization of plane wave source as in fig 3b.Amplitude of electric field and resonance frequency depend on slot dimension. Near and far field pattern of ODRA at resonance frequency as in figs 3c, d show the proper excitation of an ODRA.

Fig. 2. Value of return loss for different aspect ratio and it loss has higher magnitude at frequency 66.88 THz, 159.8THz, 192.23THz for aspect ratio 1.4137 for Silicon ODRA

Next we calculated the resonance frequency of the ODRA for different dielectric constants; it is found that resonant frequency decreases with increasing dielectric constant of the ODRA as shown in table 1. Table1. Fundamental resonant frequency (f) in THz of ODRA for different dielectric constant ( r) with aspect ratio (b/a) 1.4137 and bottom radius a=60nm. ( r) 5 7 13 (f) 498.6 420.7 308.2 ( r) 15 17 19 (f) 287.1 269.8 255 c

It is found that f r =Constant , (1) it is well agreement with RF DRA [8,9] . For further study of EM properties of ODRA, we used Silicon material with the bottom radius (a=60nm) and optimize aspect ratio. Since Silicon and Gold have well established properties at optical frequency, so the fabrication of ODRA would be easier. A. Single ODRA Before study the properties of single ODRA, we verify the proper excitation of antenna by putting probe inside the antenna

d
Fig.3. (a) Peak of amplitude of electric field recorded by probe at same resonance frequency(963.8THz) of ODRA and slot also no resonance peak when delete dot (b) Variation of Electric field and resonance frequency with slot width (c) Near field pattern and (d) Far field pattern at frequency 963.8THz.

It is found that the single ODRA has directivity 9.026 dBi, gain 10.69 dB and the half power beam widths in the E plane is 36.5 degree at 963.8THz frequency. B. Arrays of ODRA There are several applications when we need more directivity of antennas. To achieve better directionality we form arrays of ODRAs, it is found that the overall pattern of the array depends on the relative position, excitation phase, relative amplitude and pattern of individual element forming the array. We begin with the simplest case of arrays of two isotropic point sources; one placed at origin and Second at a distance d as shown in fig 4a for verification of arrays multiplication in proposed ODRA structure. The total field at a large distance is vector sum of field of individual elements as expressed below [13]. E=E0+E0 e j (2)

Here = d cos + is the total phase difference of radiation from the two elements. The meaning of the symbols is described below. = the phase difference of excitation, =2 d/ = wavelength of source, = direction in which the field is measured. For simplicity we assume =0 so that = dcos .Equation (2) can be expressed as E=E0 e j /2 (e j /2 + e -j /2) E=2E0 e j | E | = | 2E0 e j
/2 /2

cos ( /2)
/2

c cos ( dcos / ) |

cos ( /2)|=| 2E0 e j

Further assume that separation between elements is d= so that (3) | E | = | 2E0 cos( cos )| From above equations, derived for arrays two identical elements placed at a separation of d (d= ), it is evident that the resultant far field pattern is equal to product of the field due to single element and the array factor. This result of RF antenna theory is well applicable for proposed ODRA; horizontal and vertical pattern for the two elements and the single element pattern multiplication results are in well agreement shown in figs 4 b, c, and d [14]. d
Fig.4. (a) Two ODRA separated by distance d (b) Normalized Horizontal and Vertical field pattern of Single ODRA(c) Normalized Arrays factor pattern at wavelength separation (d) Normalized Horizontal and Vertical field pattern of two ODRA at frequency 963.8THz and separation of wavelength.

d a

Directivity is found to increase as putting dot on slot and also by increasing the number of elements in the array of ODRA. In fig 5a shows the amplitude of electric field inside the receiving antenna placed at a separation of 400nm and facing to transmitting antenna. The receiving resonant peak clearly

shows the radiation of focused beam due to dot. Further we examine the array of ORDA with more number of elements by exciting them in same amplitude and phase. The directivity of array of ODRA is tabulated in table 2. Table2. Increase of Directivity with increase the no of elements Array Directivity Array Directivity 1x1 2x1 3x1 9.026 dBi 12.27 dBi 14.10 dBi 3x3 3x5 5x5 15.57 dBi 16.14 dBi 18.17 dBi

IV.

CONCLUSION

The number of side lobes and the side lobe level increase with the number of elements as shown in fig 5b. The side lobe level and directional properties of the main lobe can be modified by using unequal amplitude and phase of excitation for individual elements. We believe that like RF antennas, the side lobes of the array of ODRA could be suppressed by exciting the different elements of ODRA in amplitude proportional to the binomial coefficient.

The ODRA has capability to radiate normal to ground plane. It can be used for focused beam in an extraordinary transmission in plasmonic circuits. The radiation and other EM properties of ODRA depend on the physical parameter of ODRA. Higher directivity can be achieved through the array. It can also open new avenues to study better developed RF antenna in optical frequency range. This structure have number of advantages such as high radiation efficiency, small size, lightweight, low cost, ease of excitation, ease of fabrication and ease of integration with active circuitry due to dielectric material act as an antenna. Since Silicon and Gold are widely used material in nano technology and the research in these materials at nano fabrication reached to the level that fabrication of this geometry is quite possible. The ODRA can also be implemented using different shape like cylindrical and rectangular.

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b
Fig.5. (a) Electric field Amplitude of Receiving antenna at 400nm (b) Farfield Pattern of arrays of 5x5 of ODRA at frequency 963.8THz and separation of wavelength.