CN107528121B

CN107528121B - Antenna structure, operation method thereof and antenna device

Info

Publication number: CN107528121B
Application number: CN201710758254.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 孟繁义
Original assignee: BOE Technology Group Co Ltd
Current assignee: BOE Technology Group Co Ltd
Priority date: 2017-08-29
Filing date: 2017-08-29
Publication date: 2020-02-18
Anticipated expiration: 2037-08-29
Also published as: CN107528121A

Abstract

An antenna structure, an operating method thereof and an antenna device. The antenna structure includes: a first dielectric substrate; the first electrode layer and the second electrode layer are arranged on one side of the first dielectric substrate and are oppositely arranged; a liquid crystal layer provided between the first electrode layer and the second electrode layer; wherein the first electrode layer comprises a first electrode strip and a second electrode strip which are insulated from each other. The first electrode strips and the second electrode strips can form a horizontal electric field, so that the orientation of liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal layer tends to the direction of the horizontal electric field, an additional alignment layer is not needed, the radiation range of the antenna structure can be enlarged, the difficulty of the preparation process of the antenna structure is reduced, and the cost is saved.

Description

Antenna structure, operation method thereof and antenna device

Technical Field

At least one embodiment of the present disclosure relates to an antenna structure, an operating method thereof, and an antenna apparatus.

Background

The dielectric constant of liquid crystal molecules has anisotropy, and the liquid crystal has the advantages of low working voltage, low power consumption, suitability for high-frequency and miniaturized electromagnetic wave devices, so that the liquid crystal dielectric tuning material is more and more applied to the aspects of satellite communication, radio frequency identification and the like.

However, the current liquid crystal antenna device has the problems of high processing cost, small regulation and control range, slow response time and the like.

Disclosure of Invention

At least one embodiment of the present disclosure provides an antenna structure, including: a first dielectric substrate; the first electrode layer and the second electrode layer are arranged on one side of the first dielectric substrate and are oppositely arranged; a liquid crystal layer provided between the first electrode layer and the second electrode layer; wherein the first electrode layer includes first and second electrode stripes insulated from each other, the first and second electrode stripes being configured to control a horizontal orientation of liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal layer.

For example, in an antenna structure provided in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, the first electrode layer includes a plurality of the first electrode stripes and a plurality of the second electrode stripes, the first electrode stripes and the second electrode stripes are alternately arranged, and after a voltage is applied to the first electrode stripes and the second electrode stripes, an electric field having a direction parallel to a plane of the first dielectric substrate is formed between adjacent first electrode stripes and adjacent second electrode stripes.

For example, in the antenna structure provided by at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the first dielectric substrate, the thickness of the first electrode layer is 16 to 37 micrometers.

For example, in the antenna structure provided by at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, the width of the first electrode strip and the width of the second electrode strip are 0.07 to 0.1 mm; and the spacing distance between the adjacent first electrode strips and the adjacent second electrode strips is 0.07-0.1 mm.

For example, in the antenna structure provided in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, in a direction parallel to the plane of the first dielectric substrate, the extending shape of the first electrode strip and the second electrode strip is one or a combination of a straight line segment and a curved line segment.

For example, at least one embodiment of the present disclosure provides an antenna structure further comprising: and the metal ground layer is arranged on the same layer as the first electrode layer, is arranged at the periphery of the first electrode layer and is insulated from the first electrode layer.

For example, in an antenna structure provided in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, the metal ground layer and the first electrode layer are configured to be formed by a same material layer through a single patterning process.

For example, in an antenna structure provided in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, a shape of the second electrode layer includes one of a circle, an ellipse, a triangle, a rectangle, and a polygon, as viewed in a direction perpendicular to a plane on which the first dielectric substrate is located.

For example, in the antenna structure provided in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, an orthogonal projection of the second electrode layer on the first dielectric substrate is located within an orthogonal projection of a peripheral outline of the first electrode layer on the first dielectric substrate.

At least one embodiment of the present disclosure provides an antenna apparatus including the antenna structure of any of the above embodiments.

At least one embodiment of the present disclosure provides an operating method of an antenna structure, where the antenna structure includes a first dielectric substrate, and a first electrode layer, a liquid crystal layer, and a second electrode layer sequentially disposed on the first dielectric substrate, where the first electrode layer includes a first electrode strip and a second electrode strip that are insulated from each other, the method including: and applying voltages to the first electrode strips and the second electrode strips to form an electric field with a direction parallel to the surface of the first dielectric substrate, so that liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal layer are initially aligned.

For example, at least one embodiment of the present disclosure provides an operating method further comprising: and applying voltage to the second electrode layer, and controlling the deflection of liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal layer by respectively adjusting the voltage on the first electrode bar, the second electrode bar and the second electrode layer so as to adjust the frequency of the antenna.

In the antenna structure and the operation method thereof and the antenna device provided by at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, the first electrode layer of the antenna structure is configured to include a structure of the first electrode strip and the second electrode strip which are insulated from each other, and the first electrode layer can control the orientation of the liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal layer in the horizontal direction (the direction parallel to the plane of the first dielectric substrate), so that it is not necessary to provide an alignment layer to pre-orient the liquid crystal layer, thereby reducing the difficulty of the preparation process of the antenna structure and the thickness of the antenna structure; and the first electrode layer of the structure can allow electromagnetic waves to pass through, so that the antenna structure has a bidirectional radiation function, and the signal receiving and radiation range of the antenna structure is enlarged.

Drawings

To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present disclosure, the drawings of the embodiments will be briefly introduced below, and it is apparent that the drawings in the following description relate only to some embodiments of the present disclosure and are not limiting to the present disclosure.

Fig. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an antenna structure provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 2 is a plan view of a partial structure of the antenna structure shown in fig. 1;

fig. 3 is a plan view of another partial structure of an antenna structure according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 4 is a plan view of another partial structure of an antenna structure provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view of another antenna structure provided by one embodiment of the present disclosure; and

fig. 6A to 6E are process diagrams of a method for manufacturing an antenna structure according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Reference numerals:

110-a first dielectric substrate; 120-a second dielectric substrate; 200-a first electrode layer; 201-lateral electric field; 202-space electric field; 210-a first electrode strip; 220-second electrode strips; 300-a second electrode layer; 400-a liquid crystal layer; 510-a first bias electrode; 511-a first bias sub-electrode; 521-a second bias sub-electrode; 520-a second bias electrode; 600-a metal formation; 710-a first feed; 720-a second feed source; 800-frame sealing glue; 900-patch layer.

Detailed Description

In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the embodiments of the present disclosure more apparent, the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present disclosure will be described clearly and completely with reference to the drawings of the embodiments of the present disclosure. It is to be understood that the described embodiments are only a few embodiments of the present disclosure, and not all embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the described embodiments of the disclosure without any inventive step, are within the scope of protection of the disclosure.

Unless otherwise defined, technical or scientific terms used herein shall have the ordinary meaning as understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs. The use of "first," "second," and similar terms in this disclosure is not intended to indicate any order, quantity, or importance, but rather is used to distinguish one element from another. The word "comprising" or "comprises", and the like, means that the element or item listed before the word covers the element or item listed after the word and its equivalents, but does not exclude other elements or items. The terms "connected" or "coupled" and the like are not restricted to physical or mechanical connections, but may include electrical connections, whether direct or indirect. "upper", "lower", "left", "right", and the like are used merely to indicate relative positional relationships, and when the absolute position of the object being described is changed, the relative positional relationships may also be changed accordingly.

The antenna device changes the working frequency of the antenna by using liquid crystal, and liquid crystal molecules have the characteristic of anisotropy, namely the liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal have different orientations in a natural state, and an alignment layer is required to be arranged to pre-align the liquid crystal molecules. However, in the antenna device, the thickness of the liquid crystal layer is generally large, and as the thickness of the liquid crystal layer increases, the anchoring effect of the alignment layer on the liquid crystal molecules is weakened, so that the reconfigurable range of the frequency of the antenna device is reduced, and the response time is slowed; in addition, most structures of the antenna device can be prepared by a PCB (printed circuit board) process, but the alignment layer cannot be prepared by the PCB process, so that the arrangement of the alignment layer greatly increases the processing difficulty of the antenna device, and the processing cost is high.

At least one embodiment of the present disclosure provides an antenna structure, an operating method thereof, and an antenna apparatus to solve the above technical problems. The antenna structure includes: a first dielectric substrate; the first electrode layer and the second electrode layer are arranged on one side of the first dielectric substrate and are oppositely arranged; a liquid crystal layer provided between the first electrode layer and the second electrode layer; the first electrode layer comprises a first electrode strip and a second electrode strip which are insulated from each other in the direction parallel to the surface of the first dielectric substrate. After applying a voltage to the first electrode stripes and the second electrode stripes in the first electrode layer, a horizontal electric field (an electric field having a direction parallel to the plane of the first dielectric substrate) may be generated, and liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal layer in the electric field may tend to the direction of the electric field, so that the orientation of the liquid crystal molecules may be controlled. Accordingly, liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal layer may be initially aligned by an electric field between the first electrode stripes and the second electrode stripes, and it may not be necessary to provide an alignment layer to anchor the liquid crystal molecules.

An antenna structure, an operation method thereof, and an antenna apparatus according to embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

At least one embodiment of the present disclosure provides an antenna structure, fig. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an antenna structure provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure, and fig. 2 is a plan view of a partial structure of the antenna structure shown in fig. 1. For example, as shown in fig. 1 and fig. 2, the antenna structure includes a first dielectric substrate 110, a first electrode layer 200 and a second electrode layer 300 disposed on one side of the first dielectric substrate 110 and disposed oppositely, and a liquid crystal layer 400 disposed between the first electrode layer 200 and the second electrode layer 300, and in a direction parallel to the plane of the first dielectric substrate 110, the first electrode layer 200 (e.g., a portion included by a dashed frame in fig. 1) includes a first electrode bar 210 and a second electrode bar 220 insulated from each other. For example, when a voltage difference exists between the first electrode stripes 210 and the second electrode stripes 220, a horizontal electric field (as explained in detail in the following embodiments) may be formed between the first electrode stripes 210 and the second electrode stripes 220, such that the orientation of the liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal layer 400 tends to the direction of the horizontal electric field, and the liquid crystal molecules also have a specific orientation, such that no alignment layer is required to pre-orient the liquid crystal molecules.

The arrangement and number of the first electrode stripes 210 and the second electrode stripes 220 on the first dielectric substrate 110 are not limited in the embodiments of the present disclosure, as long as an electric field parallel to the surface of the first dielectric substrate 110 can be formed between the first electrode stripes 210 and the second electrode stripes 220, so as to drive the liquid crystal molecules to horizontally align. For example, in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in fig. 1 and 2, the first electrode stripes 210 and the second electrode stripes 220 are arranged along a direction parallel to the plane of the first dielectric substrate 110. For example, in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in fig. 1 and 2, the first electrode layer 200 includes a plurality of first electrode stripes 210 and a plurality of second electrode stripes 220, and the first electrode stripes 210 and the second electrode stripes 220 are alternately disposed on the first dielectric substrate 110.

Next, as shown in fig. 1 and fig. 2, taking as an example that the first electrode stripes 210 and the second electrode stripes 220 are disposed along a direction parallel to the surface of the first dielectric substrate 110 and are disposed in a plurality of directions, technical solutions in the following embodiments of the present disclosure will be described.

The dielectric constant of the liquid crystal molecules is related to the operating frequency of the antenna structure, while the dielectric constant of the liquid crystal molecules has an anisotropic property, i.e., the dielectric constant of the liquid crystal molecules is related to the orientation of the liquid crystal molecules. In the embodiment of the present disclosure, no alignment layer is provided in the antenna structure, the orientation of the liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal layer 400 is in a disordered state in an initial state (for example, the liquid crystal molecules are not uniformly oriented), after a voltage is applied to the first electrode layer 200 and the second electrode layer 300, the orientation of the liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal layer 400 can be controlled by controlling a voltage difference between the first electrode layer 200 and the second electrode layer 300 and a voltage difference between the first electrode bar 210 and the second electrode bar 220 in the first electrode layer 200 (the relevant contents may refer to the embodiment related to the operation method of the antenna structure), in this way, the dielectric constant of the liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal layer 400 can be controlled, the operating frequency of the antenna structure can be controlled by adjusting the dielectric constant of the liquid crystal molecules, so that the antenna structure can be applied to different frequency bands (frequency ranges of electromagnetic waves), therefore, the frequency reconfiguration of the antenna structure can be realized, and the antenna structure provided by the embodiment of the disclosure can control the frequency and the energy of the receiving and transmitting electromagnetic waves.

In the antenna structure of the embodiment of the present disclosure, a specific variation relationship between the specific orientation of the liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal layer 400 and the operating frequency of the antenna structure is not limited. For example, the orientation of the liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal layer 400 tends to be parallel to the plane of the first dielectric substrate 110, the dielectric constant of the liquid crystal molecules is small, and the operating frequency of the antenna structure can be in a high frequency band; or the orientation of the liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal layer 400 tends to be perpendicular to the plane of the first dielectric substrate 110, the dielectric constant of the liquid crystal molecules is large, and the operating frequency of the antenna structure can be in a low frequency band.

The embodiment of the present disclosure does not limit the preparation materials of the first electrode layer 200 and the second electrode layer 300 as long as the preparation materials of the first electrode layer 200 and the second electrode layer 300 are materials having good electrical conductivity. For example, the material for preparing the first electrode layer 200 and the second electrode layer 300 may be a metal conductive material or a metal alloy, and the metal material may include one or a combination of titanium (Ti), aluminum (Al), nickel (Ni), platinum (Pt), gold (Au), and the like.

The thickness of the liquid crystal layer 400 is not limited by the embodiments of the disclosure, and may be set according to actual requirements. The thickness of the liquid crystal layer 400 affects the speed of switching the operating frequency of the antenna structure as well as the power consumption. For example, the smaller the thickness of the liquid crystal layer 400, the faster the switching speed of the operating frequency of the antenna structure but the higher the power consumption; the greater the thickness of the liquid crystal layer 400, the slower the switching speed of the operating frequency of the antenna structure but the lower the power consumption. For example, in the Z-axis direction of FIG. 1, the thickness of the liquid crystal layer 400 is about 5 to 200 microns, and further about 10 to 40 microns.

The embodiments of the present disclosure do not limit the types of liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal layer 400. For example, the liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal layer 400 may include nematic liquid crystal. Specifically, the liquid crystal molecules are positive liquid crystal molecules, so that the liquid crystal molecules are aligned in the direction of the electric field under the action of the electric field. Illustratively, the liquid crystal layer 400 may be a Polymer Dispersed Liquid Crystal (PDLC), i.e., a nematic liquid crystal uniformly dispersed in micron-sized droplets within a solid organic polymer matrix. The liquid crystal layer 400 of the polymer dispersed liquid crystal is used as a dielectric material, so that the advantages of effectively reducing the process difficulty, being easy to integrate and the like are achieved, the uniformity of liquid crystal in a liquid crystal cavity (a space for storing the liquid crystal layer 400 between the first electrode layer 200 and the second electrode layer 300) of the liquid crystal antenna structure under the action of external force is ensured, and the problems that the radiation direction is distorted, the antenna signal transmission path is influenced and the like due to the fact that the thickness of the liquid crystal layer in the liquid crystal cavity is not uniform due to the action of the external force are solved.

For example, in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in fig. 1, the antenna structure may further include a second dielectric substrate 120 disposed on a side of the second electrode layer 300 away from the first dielectric substrate 110. The first dielectric substrate 110 and the second dielectric substrate 120 may provide mechanical support for the antenna structure and may also serve as a package. In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the antenna structure may be a rigid antenna structure or a flexible antenna structure, and the second dielectric substrate 120 on the first dielectric substrate 110 side in the antenna structure may also be made of a rigid material or a flexible material. For example, the first dielectric substrate 110 and/or the second dielectric substrate 120 may be made of one or more of polyimide, polycarbonate, polyacrylate, polyetherimide, polyethersulfone, polyethylene terephthalate, polyethylene naphthalate, and the like. In the case where the second electrode layer 300 has sufficient strength, the second dielectric substrate 120 may not be provided.

The embodiment of the present disclosure does not limit the extending shape and the extending direction of the first electrode stripes 210 and the second electrode stripes 220 in the first electrode layer 200, the extending direction of the first electrode stripes 210 and the second electrode stripes 220 only needs to be parallel to the plane of the first dielectric substrate 110, the extending shape of the first electrode stripes 210 and the second electrode stripes 220 may be straight line segments shown in fig. 1 and 2, or may be other shapes such as curved line segments, for example, wave shapes, or a combination of the above shapes. The extending shapes and extending directions of the first electrode bars 210 and the second electrode bars 220 may be designed according to actual requirements, and the embodiments of the present disclosure are not described herein. For convenience of explanation of the technical solution in the present disclosure, the extended shape of the first electrode bar 210 and the second electrode bar 220 is exemplified as a straight line.

For convenience of explaining the positions of the components in the technical solution of the present disclosure, as shown in fig. 1 and fig. 2, the components in the antenna structure are assigned directivity by taking the first dielectric substrate 110 in the antenna structure as a reference and establishing a three-dimensional coordinate system. The directions of the X axis and the Y axis are directions parallel to the surface of the first dielectric substrate 110, the X axis is a direction perpendicular to the extending direction of the first electrode stripes 210 and the second electrode stripes 220, the Y axis is a direction parallel to the extending direction of the first electrode stripes 210 and the second electrode stripes 220, and the Z axis is a direction perpendicular to the surface of the first dielectric substrate 110.

The thickness of the first electrode layer 200 is not limited by the embodiments of the present disclosure, for example, in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in fig. 1 and 2, the thickness of the first electrode layer 200 in the Z-axis direction is about 16 to 37 micrometers, for example, about 18 to 35 micrometers.

The embodiment of the present disclosure does not limit the widths of the first electrode stripes 210 and the second electrode stripes 220 in the first electrode layer 200 and the spacing distance between the adjacent first electrode stripes 210 and the second electrode stripes 220. For example, in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in fig. 2, in the direction of the X axis, the width of the first electrode bar 210, the width of the second electrode bar 220, and the spacing distance between the adjacent first electrode bar 210 and second electrode bar 220 may be set to be less than about 0.1 mm, and further, for example, about 0.07 to about 0.1 mm.

For example, in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in fig. 2, the antenna structure may further include a first bias electrode 510 electrically connected to the first electrode strip 210 and a second bias electrode 520 electrically connected to the second electrode strip 220. The first bias electrodes 510 are configured to apply a voltage to the first electrode stripes 210, and the second bias electrodes 520 are configured to apply a voltage to the second electrode stripes 220, and according to a difference between the voltage on the first electrode stripes 210 and the voltage on the second electrode stripes 220, an electric field may be formed in a direction (e.g., X-axis direction) parallel to the plane of the first dielectric substrate 110, and the electric field may cause the orientation of the liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal layer 400 to tend to the X-axis direction.

For example, in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, the antenna structure further includes a third bias electrode (not shown in the figure) electrically connected to the second electrode layer 300, the third bias electrode is configured to apply a voltage to the second electrode layer 300, so that the second electrode layer 300 applies a voltage to the liquid crystal layer 400, the first electrode layer 200 and the second electrode layer 300 cooperate with each other to form an electric field perpendicular to the plane of the first dielectric substrate 110 between the first electrode layer 200 and the second electrode layer 300, and the orientation of the liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal layer can be adjusted in the Z-axis direction by controlling the magnitude of the voltage difference between the first electrode layer 200 and the second electrode layer 300. The embodiment of the present disclosure does not limit the specific disposition position of the third bias electrode as long as the third bias electrode can apply a voltage to the second electrode layer 300. For example, in the embodiment of the disclosure, the specific arrangement structure of the second electrode layer 300 may also refer to the arrangement manner of the first electrode layer 200, and the details of the embodiment of the disclosure are not repeated herein.

The setting positions of the first bias electrode 510, the second bias electrode 520, and the third bias electrode are not limited in the embodiments of the present disclosure, for example, the three may be disposed in the antenna structure, or may be located outside the antenna structure, as long as the first bias electrode 510, the second bias electrode 520, and the third bias electrode can control the electric field distribution in the antenna structure.

When a voltage is applied to the first electrode layer 200 through the first bias electrode 510 and the second bias electrode 520, in order to prevent the coupling between the applied current and the rf signal from affecting the signal transmission and reception of the antenna, the type of the current applied to the first electrode layer 200 by the bias electrode needs to be defined. For example, in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in fig. 1 and 2, the first biasing electrode 510 and the first electrode strip 210 and the second biasing electrode 520 and the second electrode strip 220 are configured in direct current communication therebetween. For example, in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, the power ratio between the first bias electrode 510 and the first electrode bar 210 and between the second bias electrode 520 and the second electrode bar 220 may be configured to be not less than 10 db, and it should be noted that the power ratio of the rf current allowed to pass through the first electrode layer 200 is not limited to be less than 10 db as described above, as long as the rf current does not affect the signal transceiving of the antenna structure.

For example, in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in fig. 1 and 2, the antenna structure may further include a metal ground layer 600 disposed between the first dielectric substrate 110 and the second electrode layer 300, the metal ground layer 600 being in contact with the liquid crystal layer 400 and insulated from the first electrode layer 200, the metal ground layer 600 may be in communication with a feed line in an external circuit, may introduce an external electromagnetic signal into the antenna structure, or may lead out an electromagnetic signal in the antenna structure, for example. The embodiment of the present disclosure does not limit a specific disposition position and a specific shape of the metal ground layer 600 as long as the metal ground layer 600 may be in contact with the liquid crystal layer 400 and insulated from the first electrode layer 200 and the second electrode layer 300. For example, in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, the metal ground layer 600 is disposed in the same layer as the first electrode layer 200, and the metal ground layer 600 is disposed at the periphery of the first electrode layer 200 and insulated from the first electrode layer 200. The metal formation 600 is located at the periphery of the first electrode layer 200, that is, the orthographic projection of the metal formation 600 on the first dielectric substrate 110 is located outside the orthographic projection of the peripheral outline of the first electrode layer 200 (the first electrode layer 200 is considered to include the first electrode bar 210, the second electrode bar 220 and the spacing region between the first electrode bar 210 and the second electrode bar 220) on the first dielectric substrate 110. It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present disclosure, the metal ground layer 600 is an unnecessary structure, for example, the metal ground layer 600 may not be provided in the antenna structure, and an external feed line is directly connected to the inside of the antenna structure to input or output an electromagnetic signal.

For example, in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in fig. 1 and 2, the metal ground layer 600 may be configured to be formed in the same layer and material as the first electrode layer 200. For example, the metal layer 600 and the first electrode layer 200 may be prepared from the same material layer, that is, the metal layer 600 and the first electrode layer 200 may be formed simultaneously by the same process, which may simplify the preparation process of the antenna structure and reduce the cost.

The embodiment of the present disclosure does not limit the preparation material of the metal formation 600 as long as the metal formation 600 is a conductive material. For example, the preparation materials for the metal formation 600 may include: one or a combination of materials such as titanium (Ti), aluminum (Al), nickel (Ni), platinum (Pt) and gold (Au).

To facilitate explanation of the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present disclosure, as shown in fig. 1 and fig. 2, the technical solutions in the following embodiments of the present disclosure will be described by taking an example in which the metal ground layer 600 is disposed in the same layer as the first electrode layer 200 and is formed of the same material.

The first electrode stripes 210 and the second electrode stripes 220 in the first electrode layer 200 need to be electrically connected with the external first bias electrodes 510 and the second bias electrodes 520, for example, need to be electrically connected through traces, so the metal ground layer 600 needs to be disposed at a position avoiding the traces to avoid communication with the first electrode layer 200. In this case, for example, the metal ground layer 600, the first electrode layer 200, the bias electrodes (including the first bias electrode 510 and the second bias electrode 520), and the traces connecting the first electrode layer 200 and the bias electrodes may be prepared from the same material layer and formed by the same process.

For example, in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in fig. 2, the metal ground layer 600 may be disposed on two opposite sides of the first electrode layer 200, for example, the metal ground layer 600 may be disposed on two sides of the first electrode layer 200 in the X-axis direction, and the first bias electrode 510 and the second bias electrode 520 may be disposed on two sides of the first electrode layer 200 in the Y-axis direction, so that the metal ground layer 600 does not affect the electrical connection between the first electrode layer 200 and the bias electrodes.

For example, in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, fig. 3 is a plan view of another partial structure of an antenna structure provided in one embodiment of the present disclosure. For example, as shown in fig. 3, the metal ground layer 600 may be disposed around the first electrode layer 200, and the metal ground layer 600 is disconnected at the region where the bias electrode and the first electrode layer 200 are connected (i.e., the region where the trace is located).

In the case where the metal formation 600 and the first electrode layer 200 are disposed in the same layer, the specific structure of the metal formation 600 is not limited to the structure shown in fig. 2 and 3, and the embodiment of the present disclosure does not further limit the specific structure of the metal formation 600. For convenience of explanation of the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present disclosure, the technical solutions in the following embodiments of the present disclosure will be described by taking the design structure of the metal formation 600 as shown in fig. 2 as an example.

In the embodiments of the present disclosure, there is no limitation on the embodied structures of the first and

second bias electrodes

510 and 520 and the specific connection manner of both with the first electrode layer 200.

For example, in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in fig. 2 and 3, the first bias electrode 510 may be configured as an integrated electrode, and the second bias electrode 520 may also be configured as an integrated electrode, such that the voltages applied to the plurality of first electrode bars 210 by the first bias electrode 510 are the same, and the voltages applied to the plurality of second electrode bars 220 by the second bias electrode 520 are the same.

For example, in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, fig. 4 is a plan view of another partial structure of an antenna structure provided in one embodiment of the present disclosure. For example, as shown in fig. 4, the first bias electrode 510 includes at least one first bias sub-electrode 511 insulated from each other, and each first electrode bar 210 is connected to at least one first bias sub-electrode 511; and/or the second bias electrode 520 includes at least one second bias sub-electrode 521 insulated from each other, and each second electrode bar 220 is connected to at least one second bias sub-electrode 521. For example, the plurality of first bias sub-electrodes 511 in the first bias electrode 510 may be connected to the plurality of first electrode bars 210 in the first electrode layer 200 in a one-to-one correspondence, so that the first bias electrode 510 may apply different voltages to each of the first electrode bars 210, and similarly, the second bias electrode 520 may also apply different voltages to the second electrode bars 220. In this way, the antenna structure in the above structure can adjust the electric field distribution between the first electrode layer 200 and the second electrode layer 300, that is, can locally adjust the orientation of the liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal layer 400.

For example, in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view of another antenna structure provided by one embodiment of the present disclosure. The antenna structure may further comprise a first feed 710 arranged on a side of the second electrode layer 300 remote from the first dielectric substrate 110, as shown for example in fig. 5. For example, external electromagnetic waves may be fed into the antenna structure through the first feed 710, and by adjusting voltages of the first electrode layer 200 and the second electrode layer 300 to generate a predetermined electric field, the orientation of liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal layer 400 is adjusted such that the dielectric constant of the liquid crystal molecules is adjusted to a predetermined value, thereby receiving the electromagnetic waves of a predetermined receiving frequency and direction fed by the first feed 710. The distances between the antenna structure selectively transmitting the electromagnetic waves and the antenna structure selectively receiving the electromagnetic waves are similar, and the embodiments of the disclosure are not described herein.

In the antenna structure provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure, the first electrode layer 200 is configured as a structure including the first electrode strip 210 and the second electrode strip 220, and a gap is present between the first electrode strip 210 and the second electrode strip 220, so that the electromagnetic wave emitted by the antenna structure is not absorbed and reflected by the first electrode layer 200, and a part of the electromagnetic wave can be transmitted through the first electrode layer, that is, the throughput of the electromagnetic wave which can be received and emitted from the side of the antenna structure where the first dielectric substrate 110 is disposed is increased. For example, in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in fig. 5, the antenna structure may further include a second feed 720 disposed on a side of the first electrode layer 200 away from the second electrode layer 300, so that the antenna structure may implement a function of bidirectional radiation, that is, the antenna structure may transceive electromagnetic waves in a positive direction and a negative direction of its Z axis. The process of receiving and transmitting the electromagnetic wave by the antenna structure through the second feed 720 can refer to the related content in the foregoing embodiments, and the details of the disclosure are not repeated herein.

The shape of the antenna structure (the shape of the main functional region) is not limited by the embodiments of the present disclosure. The antenna structure in the embodiment of the present disclosure may be a patch antenna, and may be applicable to antenna structures having shapes such as a rectangular antenna structure, an elliptical antenna structure, a triangular antenna structure, and a polygonal antenna structure, and also applicable to antenna structures having types such as linear polarization, circular polarization, elliptical polarization, and dual polarization. For example, in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, the shape of the second electrode layer includes one of a circle, an ellipse, a triangle, a rectangle, and a polygon, as viewed in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the first dielectric substrate (parallel to the Z-axis direction).

The embodiments of the present disclosure do not limit the distribution area of the liquid crystal layer 400 and the first electrode layer 200 in the antenna structure. For example, in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, the orthographic projection of the second electrode layer 300 on the first dielectric substrate 110 is located within the orthographic projection of the peripheral outline of the first electrode layer 200 on the first dielectric substrate 110, for example, the liquid crystal layer 400 may also be disposed to cover the second electrode layer 400 in the Z-axis direction, so that the area of the working region of the functional region of the antenna structure, for example, the resonant cavity (the region where the orientation of the liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal layer 400 may be changed), may be increased to improve the working performance of the antenna structure. It should be noted that the first electrode layer 200 and the liquid crystal layer 400 may also be disposed such that the projection on the first dielectric substrate 110 is located within the projection of the second electrode layer 200 on the first dielectric substrate 110, which is not limited in this respect by the embodiments of the present disclosure.

It should be noted that, in the antenna structure provided in the embodiment of the present disclosure, the orientation of the liquid crystal molecules can be controlled in the direction parallel to the plane of the first dielectric substrate 110 by the first electrode layer 200, so that it is not necessary to provide an alignment layer to pre-orient the liquid crystal molecules, but it is understood that the above structure is not a limitation to providing an alignment layer, and in the embodiment of the present disclosure, an alignment layer may be provided to pre-orient the liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal layer 400.

At least one embodiment of the present disclosure provides an antenna device, which may include the antenna structure in any of the above embodiments, and the first electrode layer is configured to include a plurality of first electrode strips 210 and second electrode strips 220, so that the orientation of liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal layer may be controlled, and an alignment layer is not required to be disposed to pre-orient the liquid crystal molecules, thereby simplifying the manufacturing process of the device, reducing the processing cost, and enabling the antenna device to have a bidirectional radiation function. The specific structure design of the antenna structure included in the antenna device may refer to the relevant content in the foregoing embodiments (embodiments related to the antenna structure), and the embodiments of the present disclosure are not described herein again.

For example, the antenna structure in the antenna apparatus may be a flexible structure, and the antenna apparatus may be a flexible electronic device, such as a wearable smart product with powerful functions of performance index monitoring, GPS, 4G or 5G mobile network, and the like.

At least one embodiment of the present disclosure provides an operating method of an antenna structure, where the antenna structure includes a first dielectric substrate, and a first electrode layer, a liquid crystal layer, and a second electrode layer sequentially disposed on the first dielectric substrate, where the first electrode layer includes a first electrode strip and a second electrode strip that are insulated from each other, and the method includes: and applying voltages to the first electrode strips and the second electrode strips to form an electric field with a direction parallel to the surface of the first dielectric substrate, so that the orientation of the liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal layer tends to the direction of the electric field, and the liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal layer are initially oriented. As such, in the antenna structure provided in the embodiments of the present disclosure, it may not be necessary to provide an alignment layer to pre-align the liquid crystal molecules.

After voltage is applied to the second electrode layer, an electric field with a direction perpendicular to the plane of the first dielectric substrate is formed between the first electrode layer and the second electrode layer, and the electric field can enable the orientation of liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal layer to tend to be perpendicular to the direction of the plane of the first dielectric substrate. In this way, the orientation of the liquid crystal molecules can be adjusted by controlling the voltages on the first electrode stripes, the second electrode stripes and the second electrode layer, and the dielectric constant of the liquid crystal molecules can be further controlled. Specifically, a voltage is applied to the second electrode layer, and the deflection of liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal layer is controlled by adjusting the voltages on the first electrode strips, the second electrode strips and the second electrode layer, so as to adjust the frequency of the antenna.

In the operation method of the antenna structure provided in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, reference may be made to relevant contents in the foregoing embodiment (embodiment related to the antenna structure) for a specific structure of the antenna structure, and details of the embodiment of the present disclosure are not repeated herein.

For convenience of explaining the technical solution of the present disclosure, an operation method of the antenna structure in the embodiment of the present disclosure is described below by taking the antenna structure shown in fig. 5 as an example.

For example, in an operation method provided in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in fig. 5, the antenna structure further includes a first bias electrode electrically connected to the first electrode bar 210 and a second bias electrode electrically connected to the second electrode bar 220, and the adjusting the orientation of the liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal layer 400 through the first electrode layer 200 and the second electrode layer 300 includes: voltages are applied to the first electrode stripes 210 and the second electrode stripes 220 through the first bias electrodes and the second bias electrodes, respectively, so that the alignment of the liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal layer 400 tends to be parallel to the direction of the X-axis. The first and second biasing electrodes are not shown in fig. 5, and reference may be made to the relevant description of the previous embodiments (such as the embodiments shown in fig. 2, 3 and 4). As shown in fig. 5, the first electrode layer 200 and the second electrode layer 300 can form a horizontal electric field (e.g., a transverse electric field 201 parallel to the X axis) and a longitudinal electric field (e.g., an electric field parallel to the Z axis) in the liquid crystal layer 400 by applying a voltage to adjust the orientation of the liquid crystal molecules, so that the dielectric constant of the liquid crystal molecules can be controlled, i.e., the energy and frequency of the electromagnetic waves transmitted and received by the antenna structure can be adjusted.

It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present disclosure, the direction of the horizontal electric field generated by the first electrode stripes 210 and the second electrode stripes 220 is not limited to the direction completely parallel to the plane of the first dielectric substrate 110 (e.g., the direction parallel to the X axis), and as shown in fig. 5, the horizontal electric field may include a spatial electric field 202 and a lateral electric field 201, and both the lateral electric field and the spatial electric field may cause the orientation of the liquid crystal molecules to tend to be parallel to the direction of the X axis.

For example, in an operation method provided in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in fig. 5, the antenna structure further includes a third bias electrode (not shown in the figure, and reference may be made to relevant contents in the embodiment related to the antenna structure) electrically connected to the second electrode layer 300, and the adjusting the orientation of the liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal layer 400 through the first electrode layer 200 and the second electrode layer 300 further includes: a voltage is applied to the liquid crystal layer 400 through the third bias electrode to form an electric field parallel to the Z-axis direction between the first electrode layer 200 and the second electrode layer 300. The electric field formed by the first electrode layer 200 and the second electrode layer 300 acts on the liquid crystal layer 400 together to adjust liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal layer 400. The principle of the second electrode layer 300 cooperating with the first electrode layer 200 to adjust the liquid crystal molecular orientation is similar to the principle of the first electrode layer 200 to adjust the liquid crystal molecular orientation, and the details of the embodiments of the disclosure are not repeated herein.

In order to facilitate explanation of the technical solution of the present disclosure, the process of controlling the alignment of liquid crystal molecules by applying a voltage in the embodiments of the present disclosure is analyzed below. An example of selecting an adjacent first electrode bar 210 and an adjacent second electrode bar 220 in the first electrode layer 200 is to select the first electrode bar 210 and the second electrode bar 220, where the second electrode bar 220 is located in the positive direction of the X-axis of the first electrode bar 210, and the position of the first electrode bar 210 is set as the origin of the coordinate system, and as the voltage applied to the liquid crystal layer 400 changes, the orientation of the liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal layer 400 is represented by the quadrant angle in the coordinate system in table 1, where the voltage applied to the first electrode bar 210 is U1, the voltage applied to the second electrode bar 220 is U2, and the voltage applied to the second electrode layer 300 is U0.

TABLE 1 relationship of liquid crystal molecular orientation to applied voltage

Applying a voltage	Orientation of liquid crystal molecules
		U1>>U2 (or U2)>>U1)，U0＝0	Along the X-axis direction
U1＝U2<<U0 (or U1 ═ U2)>>U0)	Along the Z-axis direction
		U0>U1>U2 (or U1)>U2>U0)	[0，-π/2](or [0, π/2)])
U2>U1>U0 (or U0)>U2>U1)	[π/2，π](or [ pi, 3 pi/2)])

For example, in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in fig. 5 and table 1, a voltage is applied to the liquid crystal layer 400 only through the first electrode layer 200, i.e., the voltage U0 on the second electrode layer 300 is 0, and the alignment of the liquid crystal molecules is along the X-axis direction. For example, when the voltage U1 of the first electrode stripes 210 is greater than, e.g., much greater than, the voltage U2 of the second electrode stripes 220, the liquid crystal molecules are oriented in the positive X-axis direction, and vice versa.

For example, in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in fig. 5 and table 1, when the voltage of the second electrode layer 300 is greater than, for example, much greater than the voltage of the first electrode layer 200, the liquid crystal molecules are aligned along the Z-axis direction. For example, when the voltages U1 and U2 of the first electrode layer 200 are greater than, e.g., much greater than, the voltage U0 of the second electrode layer 300, the liquid crystal molecules are oriented in the positive Z-axis direction, and vice versa.

For example, in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in fig. 5 and table 1, the voltage U0 on the second electrode layer 300, the voltage U1 on the first electrode strip 210, and the voltage U2 on the second electrode strip 220 are all different. For example, the voltage U1 of the first electrode bar 210 is greater than the voltage U2 of the second electrode bar 220, the voltage U2 of the second electrode bar 220 is greater than the voltage U0 of the second electrode layer 300, and the orientation of the liquid crystal molecules may vary within a quadrant angle of (0, pi/2) according to the particular alignment of U1, U2, and U3. For the ranges of the liquid crystal molecular orientations corresponding to other numerical relationships of U1, U2, and U3, reference may be made to the relevant contents in table 1, which is not repeated herein.

In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the process of adjusting the operating frequency of the antenna structure is not limited, and the operation may be performed according to actual situations.

For example, in one example of the embodiment of the present disclosure, a voltage may be applied to the first electrode layer 200 first, and the orientation of the liquid crystal molecules tends to be parallel to the direction of the first dielectric substrate 110 by an electric field formed between the first electrode stripes 210 and the second electrode stripes 220; then, a voltage is applied to the second electrode layer 300, and the voltage difference between the first electrode layer 200 and the second electrode layer 300 is controlled to adjust the orientation of the liquid crystal molecules in the direction perpendicular to the first dielectric substrate 110, so that the switching of the antenna structure between different operating frequencies can be controlled.

At least one embodiment of the present disclosure provides a method for manufacturing an antenna structure, including: providing a first dielectric substrate; forming a first electrode layer on a first dielectric substrate, wherein the first electrode layer comprises a first electrode strip and a second electrode strip which are insulated from each other; forming a liquid crystal layer on the first dielectric substrate on which the first electrode layer is formed; and forming a second electrode layer on one side of the liquid crystal layer far away from the first dielectric substrate. The first electrode layer of the antenna structure comprises a structure of a plurality of first electrode strips and a plurality of second electrode strips which are alternately arranged, and the first electrode layer can form a horizontal electric field (the direction of the electric field is parallel to the direction of the surface of the first dielectric substrate) to control the orientation of liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal layer in the horizontal direction (the direction parallel to the surface of the first dielectric substrate), so that an alignment layer is not required to be arranged to pre-orient the liquid crystal layer, and the difficulty of the preparation process of the antenna structure is reduced; and the first electrode layer of the structure can allow electromagnetic waves to pass through, so that the antenna structure has a bidirectional radiation function, and the signal receiving and radiation range of the antenna structure is enlarged.

For the specific structure of the antenna structure prepared by the preparation method of at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, reference may be made to relevant contents in the foregoing embodiments (embodiments related to the antenna structure), and details of the present disclosure are not repeated herein.

To facilitate explanation of the technical solution in the embodiments of the present disclosure, the antenna structure shown in fig. 1 is taken as an example, and in one example of the embodiments of the present disclosure, a method for manufacturing the antenna structure is described. Fig. 6A to 6E are process diagrams of a method for manufacturing an antenna structure according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, for example, as shown in fig. 6A to 6E, the process diagrams of the method for manufacturing an antenna structure according to an embodiment of the present disclosure include the following processes:

as shown in fig. 6A, a first dielectric substrate 110 is provided and a conductive layer film is deposited on the first dielectric substrate 110, and a patterning process is performed on the conductive layer film to form a first electrode layer 200 and a metal ground layer 600, wherein the first electrode layer 200 includes a first electrode stripe 210 and a second electrode stripe 220 which are alternately distributed.

For example, in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, the patterning process may include dry etching or wet etching. For example, the process of the patterning process may include: the method includes the steps of coating a photoresist layer on a structural layer to be patterned, exposing the photoresist layer using a mask plate, developing the exposed photoresist layer to obtain a photoresist pattern, etching the structural layer using the photoresist pattern as a mask, and then optionally removing the photoresist pattern.

As shown in fig. 6B, a sealant 800 is formed on the first dielectric substrate 110 on which the first electrode layer 200 is formed. The sealant 800 may encapsulate the antenna structure, limit the range of the liquid crystal layer 400, and prevent water vapor from entering.

As shown in fig. 6C, a second dielectric substrate 120 is provided and a second electrode layer 300 is formed on the second dielectric substrate 120. The embodiment of the present disclosure does not limit the forming manner of the second electrode layer 300, for example, as shown in fig. 6C, a patch layer 900 including the second electrode layer 300 may be mounted on the second dielectric substrate 120, and a preparation material of the patch layer 900 may be an insulating material. It should be noted that the second dielectric substrate 120 may not be provided if the strength of the second electrode layer 300 meets the requirement.

As shown in fig. 6D, a liquid crystal layer 400 is formed on the first dielectric substrate 110 on which the first electrode layer 200 is formed, and the liquid crystal layer 400 is located in the region defined by the sealant 800.

As shown in fig. 6E, the first dielectric substrate 110 on which the liquid crystal layer 400 is formed and the second dielectric substrate 120 on which the second electrode layer 300 is formed are disposed to the cell, and the liquid crystal layer 400 is located between the first electrode layer 200 and the second electrode layer 300.

For the present disclosure, there are also the following points to be explained:

(1) the drawings of the embodiments of the disclosure only relate to the structures related to the embodiments of the disclosure, and other structures can refer to the common design.

(2) For purposes of clarity, the thickness of layers or regions in the figures used to describe embodiments of the present disclosure are exaggerated or reduced, i.e., the figures are not drawn on a true scale.

(3) Without conflict, embodiments of the present disclosure and features of the embodiments may be combined with each other to arrive at new embodiments.

The above is only a specific embodiment of the present disclosure, but the scope of the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and the scope of the present disclosure should be determined by the scope of the claims.

Claims

1. An antenna structure comprising:

a first dielectric substrate;

the first electrode layer and the second electrode layer are arranged on one side of the first dielectric substrate and are oppositely arranged;

a liquid crystal layer provided between the first electrode layer and the second electrode layer;

the metal ground layer is arranged on the same layer as the first electrode layer, is arranged at the periphery of the first electrode layer and is insulated from the first electrode layer;

wherein the first electrode layer includes first and second electrode stripes insulated from each other, the first and second electrode stripes being configured to control a horizontal orientation of liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal layer.

2. The antenna structure of claim 1,

the first electrode layer includes a plurality of the first electrode stripes and a plurality of the second electrode stripes, the first electrode stripes and the second electrode stripes are alternately arranged, and

after voltages are applied to the first electrode strips and the second electrode strips, electric fields which are from one adjacent first electrode strip to the other adjacent second electrode strip and have directions parallel to the surface of the first dielectric substrate are formed between the adjacent first electrode strips and the adjacent second electrode strips.

3. The antenna structure of claim 1,

in the direction perpendicular to the first dielectric substrate, the thickness of the first electrode layer is 16-37 micrometers.

4. The antenna structure of claim 2,

the width of the first electrode strips and the width of the second electrode strips are 0.07-0.1 mm; and

the spacing distance between the adjacent first electrode strips and the adjacent second electrode strips is 0.07-0.1 mm.

5. The antenna structure of claim 2,

and in a plane parallel to the surface of the first dielectric substrate, the extending shape of the first electrode strip and the second electrode strip is one or a combination of a straight line segment and a curved line segment.

6. The antenna structure according to any of claims 1-5,

the metal ground layer and the first electrode layer are configured to be formed by the same material layer through a one-time patterning process.

7. The antenna structure according to any of claims 1-5,

the shape of the second electrode layer comprises one of a circle, an ellipse, a triangle, a rectangle and a polygon when viewed in a direction perpendicular to the surface of the first dielectric substrate.

8. The antenna structure of claim 7,

the orthographic projection of the second electrode layer on the first dielectric substrate is positioned in the orthographic projection of the peripheral outline of the first electrode layer on the first dielectric substrate.

9. An antenna device comprising an antenna structure as claimed in any of claims 1-8.

10. An operation method of an antenna structure, the antenna structure including a first dielectric substrate, and a first electrode layer, a liquid crystal layer, a second electrode layer and a metal ground layer sequentially disposed on the first dielectric substrate, wherein the first electrode layer and the second electrode layer are disposed opposite to each other in a direction perpendicular to a plane where the first dielectric substrate is located, the liquid crystal layer is disposed between the first electrode layer and the second electrode layer, the first electrode layer and the metal ground layer are disposed on the same layer, the metal ground layer is disposed on a periphery of the first electrode layer and insulated from the first electrode layer, the first electrode layer includes a first electrode strip and a plurality of second electrode strips that are insulated from each other, the method includes:

and applying voltages to the first electrode strips and the second electrode strips to form an electric field from one adjacent first electrode strip to the other adjacent second electrode strip and having a direction parallel to the surface of the first dielectric substrate, so that liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal layer are initially aligned.

11. The method of operation of claim 10, further comprising:

and applying voltage to the second electrode layer, and controlling the deflection of liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal layer by respectively adjusting the voltage on the first electrode bar, the second electrode bar and the second electrode layer so as to adjust the frequency of the antenna.