Electrically thin flat lenses and reflectors.

Abstract

We introduce electrically thin dielectric lenses and reflectors that focus a plane wave based on the principles of phase compensation and constructive wave interference. Phase compensation is achieved by arranging thin rectangular slabs having different dielectric permittivity according to a permittivity profile obtained through analytic design equations. All incident rays parallel to the optical axis converge to a focal point with equalized optical paths resulting in constructive interference. Plane wave simulations indicate strong focusing, even in the presence of impedance mismatch between free space and the dielectric layers composing the lens. We demonstrate focusing at 9.45GHz using a lens fabricated with commercially available dielectric materials. In addition to focusing, the flat lens proposed here demonstrates relatively high power gain at the focal point. We also present a flat reflector based on the same concept. We believe that the proposed dielectric lens and reflector are strong candidates to replace heavy metallic dishes and reflectors used in a variety of applications, especially satellites.