Advanced EM Modeling and Its Applications – A Journey from BioEM to Surface Electromagnetics for Communication
Doctoral thesis, 2026
Electromagnetics (EM) underpins a broad spectrum of scientific and engineering applications, ranging from life sciences to telecommunications. Centered on advanced EM modeling and its practical use cases, this thesis presents a chronological compilation of the author’s contributions across two major domains: Bio‑Electromagnetics (BioEM) and surface Electromagnetics (SEM).
The BioEM part focuses on radiative hyperthermia (HT) for head‑and‑neck cancer treatment. It introduces a new antenna model tailored for hyperthermic applications, followed by the design of an annular phased‑array applicator. Building on this hardware foundation, a hybrid beamforming strategy is proposed to accelerate convergence and avoid local minima, together with a versatile thermal solver capable of handling complex anatomical scenarios. These components are integrated into a unified HT treatment‑planning workflow aimed at concentrating EM energy within the tumor while minimizing unintended heating of surrounding healthy tissue.
The SEM part of the thesis shifts toward next‑generation wireless communications and the emerging role of engineered metasurfaces in shaping the propagation environment. With reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RIS) gaining traction as a key enabler of 6G technology, there is a growing need for EM‑compliant modeling frameworks that remain accurate, efficient, and computationally tractable. To address this, the thesis proposes a hybrid domain decomposition method (H‑DDM) for the synthesis and analysis of open‑cavity‑based RIS beamforming panels. H‑DDM is employed to study over‑the‑air mutual coupling, compared against Macromodeling as a representative surrogate technique from the literature, and benchmarked against commercial full‑wave solvers. The promising results highlight H‑DDM’s potential as a foundation for systematic modeling of emerging holographic beamforming panels and motivate further development of the framework.
The BioEM part focuses on radiative hyperthermia (HT) for head‑and‑neck cancer treatment. It introduces a new antenna model tailored for hyperthermic applications, followed by the design of an annular phased‑array applicator. Building on this hardware foundation, a hybrid beamforming strategy is proposed to accelerate convergence and avoid local minima, together with a versatile thermal solver capable of handling complex anatomical scenarios. These components are integrated into a unified HT treatment‑planning workflow aimed at concentrating EM energy within the tumor while minimizing unintended heating of surrounding healthy tissue.
The SEM part of the thesis shifts toward next‑generation wireless communications and the emerging role of engineered metasurfaces in shaping the propagation environment. With reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RIS) gaining traction as a key enabler of 6G technology, there is a growing need for EM‑compliant modeling frameworks that remain accurate, efficient, and computationally tractable. To address this, the thesis proposes a hybrid domain decomposition method (H‑DDM) for the synthesis and analysis of open‑cavity‑based RIS beamforming panels. H‑DDM is employed to study over‑the‑air mutual coupling, compared against Macromodeling as a representative surrogate technique from the literature, and benchmarked against commercial full‑wave solvers. The promising results highlight H‑DDM’s potential as a foundation for systematic modeling of emerging holographic beamforming panels and motivate further development of the framework.
Surface EM
Holographic MIMO
Phased-array Applicator
UWB Antennas
Electromagnetics
Wireless Communication
EM-compliant Modeling
BioEM
Metasurface
EB Lecture Hall, EDIT Building, Hörsalsvägen 11, Campus Johanneberg.
Opponent: Prof. Yang Hao, School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science, Queen Mary University of London, U.K.
Author
Morteza Ghaderi Aram
Chalmers, Electrical Engineering, Communication, Antennas and Optical Networks
An ultra-wideband compact design for hyperthermia: Open ridged-waveguide antenna
IET Microwaves, Antennas and Propagation,;Vol. 16(2022)p. 137-152
Journal article
A phased array applicator based on open ridged-waveguide antenna for microwave hyperthermia
Microwave and Optical Technology Letters,;Vol. 63(2021)p. 3086-3091
Journal article
Ghaderi Aram, M., Demir, Ö. T., Svensson, T., Björnson E. “Holographic MIMO and Near-Field-Compliant Channel Modeling”.
Ghaderi Aram, M., Maxharraj, F., Maaskant, R., Svensson, T. “On RIS Macromodeling of a Large Holographic-Inspired Beamforming Panel”.
Ghaderi Aram, M., Svensson, T., Maxharraj, F., Maaskant, R. “DDM-Based Accurate and Efficient RIS Modeling for Over-the-Air Mutual Coupling Analysis and Comparison vs Macromodeling”.
Since the advent of cellular network communication and mobile phones, wireless technology has advanced through five generations—from 1G voice calls in the 1980s to today’s 5G networks. Introduced around 2020, 5G brought faster speeds and massive connectivity through the Internet of Things (IoT), yet still struggles with coverage, energy efficiency, and indoor penetration. The next generational leap, 6G, expected around 2030, aims for theoretical speeds up to 100 Gbps (Gigabits per second), ultra‑low latency below one millisecond, and support for tens of billions of devices. These capabilities will enable transformative applications such as augmented and virtual reality, holographic communication, remote robotic surgery (telesurgery), autonomous driving, and pervasive IoT. Reaching these ambitious goals, however, requires major innovations in hardware, software, and network architecture. Higher capacity demands push communication systems toward millimeter‑wave and even Terahertz frequencies—bands that offer enormous bandwidth but are far more susceptible to environmental blockages and/or diffuse scattering in the propagation environment. Among the promising hardware solutions and key physical layer enablers of 6G to overcome these challenges are reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RISs). Also known as Metasurfaces, RISs act like “smart mirrors” for radio waves to bend signals around obstacles and are analogous to “intelligent wallpapers” coated onto building facades, inside homes, or even on street lampposts. Despite all the positive outlooks they promise, these artificial, manmade panels, which are typically composed of hundreds or thousands of electronically tunable components, pose a computational challenge, as explored in this thesis: How to efficiently yet accurately model and integrate RISs in near-real-time system-level optimization and network planning? If curious to find out more about the challenge and its potential solutions, please feel free to have a look inside!
A holistic flagship towards the 6G network platform and system, to inspire digital transformation, for the world to act together in meeting needs in society and ecosystems with novel 6G services
European Commission (EC) (101095759-Hexa-X-II), 2022-12-01 -- 2025-06-30.
Areas of Advance
Information and Communication Technology
Health Engineering
Subject Categories (SSIF 2025)
Telecommunications
Electrical Engineering, Electronic Engineering, Information Engineering
DOI
10.63959/chalmers.dt/5864
ISBN
978-91-8103-407-3
Doktorsavhandlingar vid Chalmers tekniska högskola. Ny serie: 5864
Publisher
Chalmers
EB Lecture Hall, EDIT Building, Hörsalsvägen 11, Campus Johanneberg.
Opponent: Prof. Yang Hao, School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science, Queen Mary University of London, U.K.