International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research Volume 8, Issue 4, April-2017 1675

ISSN 2229-5518

Study of Novel Microstrip Graphene

Nano Patch Antenna -‘GNPA’ for
Terahertz Radiation
1
Gaurav Tewari, 2Rajveer Singh Yaduvanshi

Abstract

Graphene is best material as compared to several conventional metallic material. The scattering of terahertz
radiation on a graphene-based microstrip nano-patch antenna is numerically analyzed. The extinction cross section
of the nano-antenna supported by silicon and silicon dioxide substrates of different thickness are calculated.
Scattering resonances in the terahertz band are identified as Fabry–Perot resonances of surface plasmon polaritons
supported by the graphene film. A strong tunability of the antenna resonances via electrostatic bias is numerically
demonstrated, opening perspectives to design tunable graphene-based nano-antennas. These antennas are
envisaged to enable wireless communications at the nanoscale.

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Keywords: GNPA; Scattering; Terahertz radiation

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1. Introduction
Graphene has recently attracted intense One particularly promising research field is that of
attention of the research community due to its graphene-enabled wireless communications.
extraordinary mechanical, electronic and optical Wireless For these reasons,
properties [1]. Being a flat monolayer of carbon
atoms tightly packed in a two-dimensional
honeycomb lattice, graphene allows to utilize
novel physics in a plethora of potential applica-
tions, ranging from ultra-high-speed transistors
[2] to transparent solar cells [3], meta-materials
[4] and graphene plasmonics [5–9].

1Gaurav Tewari is Research Scholar had

Completed his M.Tech in Fig. 1. Sketch of the graphene-based nano-antenna under
RF & Microwave Engineering consideration
E-mail: [email protected] using micrometer- size metallic antennas to
https://orcid.org/
0000-0001-6836-2778 implement wireless communications among
2Rajveer Singh Yaduvanshi is currently nanosystems becomes unfeasible. However,
Associate Professor in AIACTR
(Govt. of N.C.T of Delhi) owing to its ability to support surface plasmon
(Scientific Citation Indexed Expanded) polaritons (SPP) [10,11],
http://dx.doi.org/10.14299/ijser.2017.04
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International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research Volume 8, Issue 4, April-2017 1676
ISSN 2229-5518

graphene is seen as the enabling technology for 2. Conductivity Evaluation of Graphene

this emerging field. Indeed, a graphene-based
Material:
nano-patch antenna with lateral dimensions of
Graphene-based nano-patch antennas are
just a few micrometers is predicted to
envisaged to have a length and width in the
resonate in the terahertz band [12,13], at a
order of a few micrometers [12,13]. Since it has
dramatically lower frequency and with a
been experimentally demonstrated that edge
higher radiation efficiency with respect to their
effects on the graphene conductivity only appear
metallic counterparts. In conse- quence,
graphene-based nano-antennas are envisaged to
enable wireless communications among
nanosystems [14] In this work, we present a
systematic numerical analysis of the terahertz
radiation scattering on a graphene-based nano-
patch antenna (Fig. 1). A

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graphene rectangular patch with length L and
width W supported by a dielectric substrate of
thickness D is illuminated by a plane wave
linearly polarized along the patch length. The
associated scattering problem is then solved
numerically, and the extinction, absorption
and scattering cross sections are analyzed. The
remainder of this paper is organized as
follows. In Section 2, the expression used to
model the electric conductivity of graphene is
presented. In Section 3, two different
approaches to model a graphene patch are
described and compared. Next, in Section 4,
Fig. 2. Real and imaginary part of the total
the cross sections of the graphene-based nano-
conductivity (solid lines) and the intraband
antenna are obtained, and Section 5 explores
conductivity (dashed lines) at room
their dependence on several parameters, such
temperature (T = 300 K) and zero electrostatic
as the antenna dimensions or the chemical
bias (mc = 0 eV).
potential. Finally, Section 6 concludes the
paper.
in structures with lateral dimensions considerably
smaller than 100 nm [15], in this analysis we will
disregard the edge effects and will use the electrical

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 International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research Volume 8, Issue 4, April-2017 1677
ISSN 2229-5518
conductivity model developed for infinite graphene challenge here is to model an infinitesimally thin
sheets [10,11]. The surface conductivity of an infinite graphene layer using a finite-size discretization of
graphene film can be calculated by means of the space typical for numerical calculations.
Kubo formalism [10,11].
Within the random-phase approximation, the surface There are two main methods that can be used to
conductivity can be represented in a local form model a graphene sheet. The first technique
with the Drude-like intraband contribution consists in approximating a graphene layer by an
equivalent thin slab with a small, but finite, width.
The propagation of the electromagnetic fields within
the slab is modeled by assigning to it a normalized
effective conductivity [4,7]
…..(1)
and interband contribution given by

…. (2)
where D is the thickness of the equivalent slab
and the graphene sheet is located in the x–y plane.

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Here t = 1013 s is the relaxation time, T is the The main drawback of this method is that a
temperature, mc is the chemical potential and H ð realistic model of graphene will have a length L
eÞ is defined as:
much larger than its thickness D, resulting in a
very high aspect ratio (L/ D 1000). The numerical
computation of the electro- magnetic fields in such
a structure will therefore require a very high mesh
In the frequency region of interest (below 5 THz),
density, leading to a high computa- tional cost.
the intraband contribution (1) dominates [16]. This
As an alternative to treat this problem with lower
can be seen in Fig. 2, where the frequency
computational costs, the graphene sheet can be
dependence of the real and imaginary part of the
modeled as an equivalent impedance surface
intraband conductivity s and the total conductivity
[13,17]. The surface impedance Zs connects the
stotal = s + si are compared at room temperature
tangential component of the
(T = 300 K) and zero electrostatic bias (mc = 0
electric field on the surface with the electric
eV). In the following, we neglect the interband
surface current, . . Taking into account
conductivity contribution and assume the
that the current induced in the graphene layer is
conductivity of the graphene patch to be purely
purely superficial and it is related to the tangential
intraband.
component of the electric field via the surface
3. Formulations Used
conductivity as one can define the
In order to find the electromagnetic field scattered
boundary conditions at the graphene interface
by a graphene structure, it is necessary to couple
the phenomenological model of graphene
conductivity with Maxwell’s equations. The major ….(3)
where Zs = 1/s is the equivalent surface impedance
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International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research Volume 8, Issue 4, April-2017 1678
ISSN 2229-5518
of the graphene. The boundary conditions (3) fully effective conductivity as defined in (2), for
deter- mine the electromagnetic problem and can be different antenna thicknesses: 500 nm, 200 nm and
5 nm, from left to right. The dashed line
solved numerically using a computational scheme of corresponds to the surface impedance model. One
choice. Fig. 3 contains a comparison between the can see that the equivalent slab model converges to
equivalent slab model and the surface impedance the surface impedance model as the equivalent slab
model. In all numerical calculations the method of thickness is reduced, while simultaneously requiring
moments with surface equivalence principle [18] denser mesh (higher computational costs) for
has been employed. The solid lines show the smaller equivalent thickness. In what follows the
extinction cross section (see Section 4 for details) surface impedance model is used to numerically
of the antenna as a function of frequency when the characterize the graphene patch due to its accuracy
antenna is modeled as a thin slab, with an and efficiency.

4. Novel Graphene Scattering properties

In order to study the performance of a graphene-
based nano-patch antenna, it is interesting to

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investigate the scattering, absorption and extinction
cross sections of a graphene patch. The scattering
(absorption) cross section is defined as a ratio of
the scattered (dissipated) power to the incident
power, namely

….(4)
and

….(5)
Here the surface integration is performed over a
Fig. 3. Extinction cross section per unit width surface enclosing the graphene antenna. n is the
of a 10 mm wide graphene patch with length L surface normal. S, Ss and Sinc are the Poynting
= 5 mm. Results of the surface imped- ance vectors of the total, scattered and incident fields,
model (dashed black line) and the equivalent respectively. The extinc- tion cross section is given
slab model (solid lines) are shown at room by the sum of the scattering and the absorption
temperature (T = 300 K) and zero electro- static cross sections.
bias (mc = 0 eV). The thicknesses of the
…..(6)
equivalent graphene slab D are 500 nm, 200 nm
and 5 nm, from left to right. The calculated scattering and absorption cross

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International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research Volume 8, Issue 4, April-2017 1679
ISSN 2229-5518
sections of a graphene patch with length L = 1 results reported for graphene micro-ribbon arrays
mm and width W = 100 mm normalized to the [19].
patch geometrical area are shown in Fig. 4. The In order to understand the resonant behavior, we
antenna is supported by an infinite silicon substrate consider a simple Fabry–Perot (FP) model for the
with dielectric constant e = 11.9. Room temperature graphene patch. An infinite graphene layer placed
(T = 300 K) and zero electrostatic bias (mc = 0 on the air-dielectric interface supports transverse-
eV) are assumed. The interaction of the terahertz magnetic (TM) SPP waves with a dispersion
radiation with the antenna is dominated by the relation given by [5]
absorption, with the scattering being three orders of
magnitude weaker due to the large wavelength
mismatch between the electromagnetic excitation in
the graphene layer and in the far-field.
……(7)
where b and v are the wave-vector and frequency
of the SPP wave and e is the dielectric constant of
the sub- strate. While the air-dielectric interface

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does not sup- port SPP waves, a termination of the
graphene film acts as a mirror and a FP type
resonator can be realized when the following
condition is satisfied.

…….(8)
field penetration outside the graphene patch.
Fig. 4. The absorption (black line) and Solving the dispersion relation (7) with the FP
scattering (dashed red line) cross sections of a condition (8) for a given effective resonator length
graphene antenna on an infinite silicon Leff results in a set of m complex frequencies vm
substrate, obtained using numerical simulations, (resonator modes). The coupling of the incident
as compared with the absorp- tion (blue line radiation with those modes leads to resonances in
with dots) and scattering (dashed green line the extinction spectra. Taking into account that the
with dots) cross sections obtained using the modes of the resonator are orthogonal, one can
Fabry–Perot model. (For interpreta- tion of the model them as a set of independent driven
references to color in this figure legend, the harmonic oscillators with angular frequencies
reader is referred to the web version of the
article.) Introducing the dipole polarizabilities of the
The total extinction cross section is equal to a few oscillators as
percents of the graphene area and demonstrates a
clear resonant character. The obtained absorption
cross sections are consistent with experimental

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International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research Volume 8, Issue 4, April-2017 1680
ISSN 2229-5518
frequency range the wavelength of SPP is of the
..…….(9) order of a few micrometers, matching the expected
with fm being the oscillator strength, the scattering size of envisaged graphene-based nano- antennas. In
and absorption cross sections of the graphene the same time, the propagation length, shown in
antenna can be calculated as a sum of the Fig. 5 in units of the corresponding SPP
normalized scattered and dissipated power of wavelength, is relative small, staying below one
individual oscillators [20], namely SPP wavelength. This result is consistent with
the SPP behavior observed at infrared
frequencies [21]. How- ever, since a resonant
……(10) graphene patch antenna will have dimensions of
and approximately half the SPP wavelength, the sub-
wavelength propagation length, due to ohmic
losses in the graphene sheet is not expected to
…….(11) hamper the performance of graphene antennas
In Fig. 4, the absorption and scattering cross considerably.
sections obtained with the FP model are compared

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with the results of a direct numerical simulation. 5. Scattering Factor and Tuning
The effective length of the FP resonator is set to
The spectral position of the SPP resonance can be
Leff = 1.36 mm, where the penetration length dL =
adjusted by an appropriate choice of the resonator
length and width. The dependence of the resonant
frequency on the resonator length, calculated using
equivalent surface impedance method, is shown in
Fig. 6 for different resonator widths. The results
correspond to a graphene patch on infinite silicon
substrate at room temperature and zero electrostatic
bias. A wide frequency range in the terahertz band
can be covered by choosing antenna dimensions.
For a given length, antennas with smaller width
0.18 mm has been estimated based on the
possess resonance at lower frequencies. This effect
numerical simulations. With the oscillator strength
might be attributed to the higher confinement of
fm used as a fit parameter, a reasonable agreement
surface plasmons in a narrow graphene patch,
with numerical results can be achieved even if only
which in turn leads to higher effective permittivity
the first FP mode ( f1 = 0.073) is taken into
and lower resonance frequency. In the same time,
account. While the operation of the graphene patch
the resonance shifts towards higher frequencies for
antenna is based on the SPP resonances, it is
shorter antennas, in full agreement with the
important to analyze the SPP properties. In Fig. 5
resonance condition (8). The dielectric constant and
the SPP wavelength is shown as a function of the
thickness of the substrate influence both the
frequency. One can see that in the terahertz
spectral position and magnitude of
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International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research Volume 8, Issue 4, April-2017 1681
ISSN 2229-5518
enhancement of the extinc- tion cross section can
be achieved.
The strong dependence of the graphene
conductivityon the chemical potential mc opens the
possibility to tune the antenna resonant frequency.
In Fig. 8, the extinction cross section of the
graphene antenna for different values of mc is
shown. A chemical potential of 0.2 eV results in
the resonant frequency shift of 1.4 THz, while
corresponding to a bias field below 1 V/nm which
is experimentally feasible and can be achieved with
a bias voltage well below 100 V [11]. This could
enable a highly tunable antenna in the terahertz
band. At the same time, such an antenna would
Fig. 6. Dependence of the first resonant also possess high temperature stability. For the
frequency of the graphene antenna on its length,

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L, for different widths, W = 100 mm, W = 5
mm, W = 0.5 mm and W = 0.2 mm.

the resonance. In Fig. 7 (top), the extinction cross

section of the graphene antenna with length L = 1
mm and width W = 0.5 mm supported by different
infinite substrates is shown. As expected from the
SPP dispersion relation (7), an increase of the
dielectric constant of the substrate shifts the
resonance toward lower frequencies, while
simultaneously reducing the extinction efficiency.
For a silicon substrate, a fourfold reduction of the
total extinction cross section can be observed in
comparison to the antenna suspended in air. One
can partially compensate this reduction by adjusting
the substrate thickness. In Fig. 7 (bottom), the
extinction cross section is shown for the antenna Fig. 7. Top: normalized extinction cross section
of the graphene antenna placed on different
on silicon substrate with different thicknesses. Due
substrates, silicon (e=11.9), silica (e=4.0) and
to constructive interference in the substrate, the vacuum (left to right). Bottom: normalized
extinction cross section can restore its value extinction cross section for different thickness of
silicon substrates, D =1 (solid), D = 37.5 mm
corresponding to the antenna in air. In particular, if (dashed) and D = 5 mm (dashed-dotted).
the FP resonance of the substrate coincides with
the one of the antennas (D = 37.5 mm), a fivefold

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International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research Volume 8, Issue 4, April-2017 1682
ISSN 2229-5518
The strong dependence of the graphene antenna. Indeed, we have observed that the antenna
conductivityon the chemical potential mc opens the resonant frequency can be tuned by changing the
possibility to tune the antenna resonant frequency. substrate material or size, or by applying an
In Fig. 8, the extinction cross section of the external electrostatic bias.
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