A Transparent Conductive Material Based Circularly Polarized Nano-antenna for THz Applications

In this paper, an optically transparent circularly polarized E-shaped antenna is presented for THz applications. THz antennas are important for inter-satellite communication systems to enable the adequate spatial resolution, wide bandwidth, superior data rates and highly directional beam with secured data transmission. Due to the non-ionizing nature and penetration capability of THz radiation, the application of THz antenna is gaining momentum in space communications and security systems. Transparent conductive material namely indium tin oxide is deployed as patch. Due to low conductivity, the performance of ITO based antenna is slightly reduced which is overcome by loading another transparent highly conductive material namely carbon nanotube as cover over the patch. Circular polarization is acquired by introducing orthogonality between two resonating degenerate current modes with the aid of the two unequal parallel slits of E-shaped patch along with inserted E-shaped and I-shaped slots into the patch. 10-dB impedance bandwidth of 22.2% and 3-dB axial ratio bandwidth of 9.14% are achieved with good radiation performance which makes this simple nano-antenna suitable for THz applications.