A cryogenic metamaterial antenna platform with high radiation efficiency across the Ka-band

A cryogenic metamaterial antenna platform with high radiation efficiency across the Ka-band | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article A cryogenic metamaterial antenna platform with high radiation efficiency across the Ka-band Shahid Mumtaz, Tao Hong, Michel Kadoch This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8677148/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract High-efficiency radio-frequency antennas operating at millimeter-wave frequen cies are essential for emerging satellite and high-capacity communication systems, yet their performance is often constrained by conductor losses, thermal insta bility and limited reconfigurability. These challenges become more pronounced in the Ka-band, where conventional metallic antennas suffer from reduced radi ation efficiency and increased sensitivity to environmental variations. Here we present a cryogenic metamaterial antenna platform that achieves high radiation efficiency across the Ka-band by integrating superconducting radiating elements with engineered metamaterial structures. The platform exploits the suppressed ohmic loss of high-temperature superconductors under cryogenic operation and employs sub-wavelength metamaterial unit cells to control electromagnetic radia tion characteristics over a broad frequency range. Experimental characterization demonstrates radiation efficiencies exceeding 90% from 20 to 40 GHz, sta ble performance under cryogenic temperatures between 4.2 K and 77 K, and robust operation after thermal cycling and vacuum testing. Array-level mea surements further show improved gain uniformity and reduced mutual coupling compared with conventional metallic antenna implementations. This cryogenic metamaterial antenna platform provides a scalable hardware approach for high efficiency Ka-band operation and offers opportunities for next-generation satellite communications and cryogenic radio-frequency electronic systems. Physical sciences/Engineering/Electrical and electronic engineering Physical sciences/Engineering/Aerospace engineering Cryogenic antennas Metamaterials Ka-band Radiation efficiency Reconfigurable RF hardware Superconducting structures Low loss electromagnetics Millimeter wave systems Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8677148","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":582685439,"identity":"641978a7-da21-438c-be25-10b78b88dcd3","order_by":0,"name":"Shahid Mumtaz","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA7ElEQVRIiWNgGAWjYDACCQY2hgQ2GK8CLp5AjBZmID4D5BOlhQGmhbGNCC3ys5ufPXhQxhBtcO38wY8/592pMzjA/PADY1saTi0Gd46ZGyScY8jdcDuZWUJy2zMJgwNsxhKMbTm4tUgkmEkktoG1MEgYbjsM1MJgBnRhBU4t8jPSv8G0MP9InAPSwv4NrxaGGzlwW9gkDjaAtPCAbMHjsBs5ZRIJ5yRyZ95ONrNsOHZYcuZhnmKgCG7vAx22TfJHmU1u3+3Exzd/1Bzm5zvevvHDh7Jk3A6DAAkkNihKEwhpGAWjYBSMglGAFwAAYTZUVW7ud14AAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"","institution":"Nottingham Trent University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Shahid","middleName":"","lastName":"Mumtaz","suffix":""},{"id":582685440,"identity":"011092c9-3911-4b4e-84c8-e92d38bf7fd6","order_by":1,"name":"Tao Hong","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Beihang University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Tao","middleName":"","lastName":"Hong","suffix":""},{"id":582685441,"identity":"dcec437b-559b-4fb5-9fa8-42735dc371cb","order_by":2,"name":"Michel Kadoch","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Universitédu Québec àMontréal Montreal, Canada","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Michel","middleName":"","lastName":"Kadoch","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-01-23 09:00:09","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8677148/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8677148/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":103507827,"identity":"69839287-391e-45f9-8f98-3ca20bfdf3dd","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-02-26 13:45:47","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":589128,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Article File","description":"","filename":"Acryogenicmetamaterialantennaplatformwithhighradiatio20260120.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8677148/v1_covered_6218ed54-bcd7-4ada-9c53-4795c0cb8444.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"There is \u003cb\u003eNO\u003c/b\u003e Competing Interest.","formattedTitle":"A cryogenic metamaterial antenna platform with high radiation efficiency across the Ka-band","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"nature-portfolio","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Nature Portfolio","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":false,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"Cryogenic antennas, Metamaterials, Ka-band, Radiation efficiency, Reconfigurable RF hardware, Superconducting structures, Low loss electromagnetics, Millimeter wave systems","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8677148/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8677148/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"High-efficiency radio-frequency antennas operating at millimeter-wave frequen\r\ncies are essential for emerging satellite and high-capacity communication systems,\r\nyet their performance is often constrained by conductor losses, thermal insta\r\nbility and limited reconfigurability. These challenges become more pronounced\r\nin the Ka-band, where conventional metallic antennas suffer from reduced radi\r\nation efficiency and increased sensitivity to environmental variations. Here we\r\npresent a cryogenic metamaterial antenna platform that achieves high radiation\r\nefficiency across the Ka-band by integrating superconducting radiating elements\r\nwith engineered metamaterial structures. The platform exploits the suppressed\r\nohmic loss of high-temperature superconductors under cryogenic operation and\r\nemploys sub-wavelength metamaterial unit cells to control electromagnetic radia\r\ntion characteristics over a broad frequency range. Experimental characterization\r\ndemonstrates radiation efficiencies exceeding 90% from 20 to 40 GHz, sta\r\nble performance under cryogenic temperatures between 4.2 K and 77 K, and\r\nrobust operation after thermal cycling and vacuum testing. Array-level mea\r\nsurements further show improved gain uniformity and reduced mutual coupling\r\ncompared with conventional metallic antenna implementations. This cryogenic\r\nmetamaterial antenna platform provides a scalable hardware approach for high\r\nefficiency Ka-band operation and offers opportunities for next-generation satellite\r\ncommunications and cryogenic radio-frequency electronic systems.","manuscriptTitle":"A cryogenic metamaterial antenna platform with high radiation efficiency across the Ka-band","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-02-26 05:00:26","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8677148/v1","editorialEvents":[],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"communications-engineering","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"commseng","sideBox":"Learn more about [Communications Engineering](http://link.springer.com/journal/44172)","snPcode":"44172","submissionUrl":"https://mts-commseng.nature.com/cgi-bin/main.plex","title":"Communications Engineering","twitterHandle":"@commseng","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"c4e8b16f-1d4b-40f1-827e-0bdcb4d3aac7","owner":[],"postedDate":"February 26th, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[{"id":61995212,"name":"Physical sciences/Engineering/Electrical and electronic engineering"},{"id":61995213,"name":"Physical sciences/Engineering/Aerospace engineering"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-02-26T05:00:26+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-02-26 05:00:26","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-8677148","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-8677148","identity":"rs-8677148","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}