Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 May 2017
This paper presents a new optically controlled reconfigurable ultra-wideband antenna using reconfigurable optical router with photonic crystal substrate. The proposed antenna has three optical switches. The optical switches are made by placing silicon wafers over three slots etched on the resonator. The coplanar fed microstrip antenna can work at eight modes using optically controlled switches. This design proposes triple narrow notched bands at center frequencies 3.5 GHz “WiMAX”, 5.5 GHz “WLAN” and 8.4 GHz “X-band satellite communication”. The proposed antenna satisfies the voltage standing wave ratio requirement of <2 in the frequency band between 2.6 and 11.8 GHz except for the three rejected bands. According to the incident light, the physical properties of these switches can be changed from an insulator state (OFF state) to a near-conducting state (ON state). The incident light is coupled to the optical switches using a reconfigurable optical router. The proposed antenna provides high gain, and high efficiency all over the frequency band excluding the rejected bands.