A wideband 1 bit reconfigurable transmitarray antenna based on proximity-coupled feed patch element

Abstract

ABSTRACT In this paper, a wideband 1-bit reconfigurable transmit array antenna (RTA) is proposed. The 1-bit RTA element consists of a passive receiving antenna and a reconfigurable radiating antenna, which adopt a proximity-coupled feed method to broaden the transmission bandwidth. Two p-i-n diodes are integrated into the reconfigurable receiving antenna to control the current distribution. By switching the states of the p-i-n diodes, the reconfigurable radiating antenna can achieve a 1-bit phase shift. Element simulation results show that the proposed RTA element can achieve a 3 dB transmission bandwidth of 21.5%. A 100-element RTA prototype with 200 p-in diodes is designed, fabricated and measured. The measured results show that the peak gain is 18.8 dBi at 5.05 GHz, corresponding to an aperture efficiency of 20.8%, and the 3 dB gain bandwidth is 17.1%. Furthermore, the scanned beams can reach −32° and −36°, respectively, in the E- and H-planes.