ABSTRACT

This chapter reviews the state of the art of graphene-based antennas for terahertz band communications by depicting current design trends, outlining the theoretical foundations behind them and evaluating a representative set of implementations. It shows how the use of different vertical stacks in the radiating elements can help to balance the properties of graphene. Graphene is regarded as an excellent candidate for the implementation of antennas in the terahertz band, where other technologies have failed to provide valid alternatives. The tunability of graphene plasmons confers graphene antennas with unique reconfigurability properties. Surveying the characteristics of guided-wave structures, including one-dimensional and two-dimensional waveguides, facilitates the construction of the antennas as the three-dimensional radiated-wave structures. Graphene-based antennas present unique miniaturization and tunability features in the terahertz (THz) band. Both the miniaturization and tunability properties of graphene antennas stem from the ability of graphene to support surface plasmon polaritons in the THz band.