Compact Metamaterial-Enabled High Power Microwave Antennas

The DoD continues to make investments in High-Power Microwave (HPM) technology, with new integrated demonstrators being tested for their operational capability. Most HPM systems are large and sacrifice compact form factors for operational capability. As a result, the antennas used to transmit the high-power microwaves are designed primarily for power and voltage handling, enabling the system to undergo operational testing. However, as the efficacy of HPM systems has been shown, attention has started to focus on compact form factors and operation in challenging environments. The antenna is one component within the HPM systems that can be significantly reduced in size to enable compact form factors. The proposed effort will utilize advanced materials, architectures, and manufacturing techniques to realize compact collapsible beam steering antennas for HPM systems. The Phase I portion of the effort demonstrated feasibility through extensive modeling and simulation of collapsible reflectarray antenna designs. The Phase II effort will assemble and test a prototype of that antenna.