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A Topology optimization technique is used for complete layout optimization of the radiating element of a planar monopole antenna. The design objective is to find a conductivity distribution that maximizes the energy received by the planar monopole over the frequency band 1-10 GHz. The finite difference time domain method (FDTD) is used for the numerical calculations, and an adjoint problem is derived to calculate the corresponding sensitivities. Numerical results show a promising use of topology optimization techniques for the systematic design of ultrawideband monopoles.

We introduce an approach to carry out layout optimization of metallic antenna parts. An optimization technique first developed for the optimization of load-bearing elastic structures is adapted for the purpose of metallic antenna design. The local conductivity values in a given region are used as design variables and are iteratively updated by a gradient-based optimization algorithm. Given a set of time-domain signals from exterior sources, the design objective is here to maximize the energy received by the antenna and transmitted to a coaxial cable. The optimization proceeds through a sequence of coarsely-defined lossy designs with successively increasing details and less losses as the iterations proceed. The objective function gradient is derived based on the FDTD discretization of Maxwell's equations and is expressed in terms of field solutions of the original antenna problem and an adjoint field problem. The same FDTD code, but with different wave sources, is used for both the original antenna problem and the adjoint problem. For any number of design variables, the gradient is evaluated on the basis of only two FDTD simulations, one for the original antenna problem and another for the adjoint field problem. We demonstrate the capability of the method by optimizing the radiating patch of both UWB monopole and microstrip antennas. The UWB monopole is designed to radiate over a wide frequency band 1-10 GHz, while the microstrip patch is designed for single and dual frequency band operation. In these examples, there are more than 20,000 design variables, and the algorithm typically converges in less than 150 iterations. The optimization results show a promising use of the proposed approach as a general method for conceptual design of near-resonance metallic antennas.

We present expressions for the derivatives of the outgoing signal in coaxial cables with respect to the conductivity distribution in a specific domain. The derived expressions can be used with gradient-based optimization methods to design metallic electromagnetic devices, such as antennas and waveguides. We use the adjoint-field method to derive the expressions and the derivation is based on the 3D time-domain Maxwell's equations. We present two derivative expressions; one expression is derived in the continuous case and the second is derived based on the FDTD discretization of Maxwell's equations, including the uniaxial perfectly match layer (UPML) to simulate the radiation boundary condition. The derivatives are validated through a numerical example, where derivatives computed by the adjoint-field method are compared against derivatives computed with finite differences. Up to 7 digits precision matching is obtained.