Development of computational model for tunable characteristics of graphene based triangular patch antenna in THz regime

Design of antennas in terahertz regime demands for efficient design methodologies as miniaturization limits the performance in terms of higher geometric uncertainty, improper characterization of the antenna leading to fabrication difficulties. New material such as graphene having a number of desirable electromagnetic and mechanical properties can play a significant role in overcoming the limitations for miniature antenna using a well defined shape of antenna while maintaining the key antenna parameters like return loss, gain, directivity, VSWR, radiation pattern and radiation efficiency. The equilateral triangular patch antenna has been designed here using graphene as the patch conductor. The design procedure presented in this paper incorporates the electrical and non-electrical properties of graphene for initializing the tunable conductivity which is further coupled to electromagnetic simulator for analyzing the radiation properties of the graphene antenna. The mathematical modeling of the antenna is performed using ANSYS Maxwell and high frequency simulation software. The tunable characteristics of the antenna are validated from return loss and radiation plots. Sufficient radiation efficiency is achieved at resonant frequencies in the range 1-3 THz. The antenna absorption cross section variations due to tunable surface conductivity owing to applied bias voltages is also analyzed.