Array miniaturization through QCTO-SI metamaterial radomes

The array miniaturization problem is addressed by means of a material-by-design approach. More specifically, an innovative strategy that integrates a quasi-conformal transformation optics (QCTO) technique and a source inversion method is proposed to design radome-coated arrays exhibiting the same radiation properties of wider virtual arrangements comprising more antenna elements. Toward this end, the state-of-the-art QCTO theory is generalized to account for source constraints within the synthesis process. Representative numerical examples are provided to assess the reliability, the flexibility, and the effectiveness of the proposed synthesis approach as well as the possibility to realize suboptimal radomes with simplified, but cheaper/easier, structures (e.g., structures based on tiles of isotropic dielectrics).