Modelling of hexagonal-shaped 4 × 4 MIMO plasmonic antenna for nanophotonic applications

The manuscript presents the design and investigation of a dual-port 4 × 4 plasmonic MIMO antenna using aluminium and copper on a silicon dioxide substrate for nanophotonic applications. Initially, the plasmonic properties of the materials, such as permittivity and refractive index, are studied using Drude and Lorentz equations. It is observed that the designed hexagonal-shaped plasmonic MIMO antenna radiates at multiple frequencies. The single-port aluminium and copper MIMO antennas are radiating at 86 and 4 THz with a minimum reflection level of -32.13 dB and − 43.39 dB, respectively. Furthermore, these antennas show a gain value of 5.625 dBi and 7.10 dBi, respectively, at the resonance. Additionally, the dual-port aluminium and copper antennas exhibit gains of 18.9 dBi and 9.9 dBi at 36 and 35 THz, respectively. The MIMO performance metrics, such as ECC, DG, MEG, CCL and TARC of both single and dual-port antennas, are within the desirable limit required for the nanophotonic communication. Further, the designed nanophotonic circuit of the hexagonal MIMO antenna is compared with the finite integration technique. High gain plasmonic MIMO antennas are required for nanophotonic applications, in this regard 4 × 4 aluminium and copper single and dual-port plasmonic antennas are designed on a silicon dioxide substrate. The material properties of the aluminium, copper and silicon dioxide are studied using Drude and Lorentz equations at the optical frequency. The MIMO performance metrics, such as Envelope Correlation Coefficient (ECC), Diversity Gain (DG), Channel Capacity Loss (CCL), Total Active Reflection Coefficient (TARC) and Mean Effective Gain (MEG) of the aluminium and copper MIMO antennas are evaluated using scattering coefficients. The nanophotonic circuit of the 4 × 4 MIMO plasmonic antenna is designed and validated using the finite integration technique.