Direct printable X-band low profile broadband reflectarray antenna using copper foils

Abstract

This work reports on a compact and broadband reflectarray antenna that can be directly applied to the exterior surface of a nanosatellite. The design is composed of an annular ring with a wheel-shaped concentric structure loaded with two circular stubs acting as delay lines for maximum phase angle coverage. The design offers a phase variation of 576° in the X-band along with a peak measured gain of 26.6 dBi and an aperture efficiency of 49.24%. The design also offers low side lobe levels of −13 dB and −18 dB in both E- and H-planes at 11 GHz, respectively. Cross-polarization discrimination is also sufficiently large and is better than −32 dB and −36 dB for E- and H-planes, respectively. Moreover, the proposed printable reflectarray exhibited a 1-dB gain Bandwidth (BW) of 31.5 %. The design is produced by applying copper foils on float glass with a thickness of 2 mm as a proof of concept.