Optically reconfigurable planar monopole antenna for cognitive radio application

Frequency reconfigurable antenna is one of the important elements needed for cognitive radio application. Such antenna can be designed using highly resistive (HR) silicon (Si) operating as an optical switch. This letter presents a novel frequency reconfigurable planar monopole antenna suitable for cognitive radio application. The antenna is designed using HR Si working as an optical switch. The main idea behind the design of antenna is the redistribution of surface current on the antenna while changing the state of Si switches optically from high resistance to low resistance. The antenna is highly compact and uses only two switches for multiband reconfiguration. It is switchable on 1.9 GHz, 2.75 GHz, 3.7 GHz, 4.1 GHz, 4.6 GHz, 4.8 GHz, and 7.6 to 11 GHz frequency bands. Simulated and measured results are presented for the antenna. To the best of authors knowledge, this is the first multiband optically reconfigurable planar monopole antenna.