US 12,438,260 B1
Surface electromagnetic wave antenna
Igor Smolyaninov, Columbia, MD (US); and Quirino Balzano, Annapolis, MD (US)
Assigned to Saltenna Inc., McLean, VA (US)
Appl. No. 19/112,099
Filed by Saltenna Inc., McLean, VA (US)
PCT Filed Dec. 20, 2024, PCT No. PCT/US2024/061379
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Mar. 14, 2025,
.
Int. Cl. H01Q 1/36 (2006.01); H01Q 1/50 (2006.01)
CPC H01Q 1/362 (2013.01) [H01Q 1/50 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A surface electromagnetic wave (SEW) antenna system, comprising:
a tip positioned at an end of a SEW antenna, the tip including a spherical particle configured for maintaining resonance frequency in response to proximity of the tip to a conducting surface;
a resonant helix supporting a strong electric field at the tip of the SEW antenna and a strong magnetic field within a core of the SEW antenna, wherein the resonant helix is encapsulated in a protective coating to prevent direct contact with the conducting surface while maintaining capacitive coupling;
one or more feed points located on the resonant helix, a given feed point corresponding to a given operating frequency band; and
a switch network operatively connected to the one or more feed points, the switch network configured to selectively activate a high-frequency tap or a low-frequency tap for a desired operating frequency band.