Abstract
This work presents the design and analysis of active reflectarray antennas with slot embedded patch element configurations within an X‐band frequency range. Two active reflectarray design technologies have been proposed by digital frequency switching using PIN diodes and analogue frequency tuning using liquid crystal‐based substrates. A waveguide simulator has been used to perform scattering parameter measurements in order to practically compare the performance of reflectarray designed based on the two active design technologies. PIN diode‐based active reflectarray unit cell design is shown to offer a frequency tunability of 0.36 GHz with a dynamic phase range of 226°. On the other hand, liquid crystal‐based design provided slightly lower frequency tunability of 0.20 GHz with a dynamic phase range of 124°. Moreover, the higher reflection loss and slow frequency tuning are demonstrated to be the disadvantages of liquid crystal‐based designs as compared to PIN diode‐based active reflectarray designs.
Highlights
A reflectarray, as suggested by the name, is a flat reflecting array of resonant patch elements that can be used for a number of applications where high gain antennas are required
The PIN diode embedded planar reflector unit cell exhibited a maximum measured reflection loss of 3.91 dB, which is much lesser as compared to the 8.56 dB of reflection loss observed for liquid crystal-based unit cell design
Slot embedded patch element configurations have been identified as a potential configuration for the improved design of passive and reconfigurable reflectarray antennas
Summary
A reflectarray, as suggested by the name, is a flat reflecting array of resonant patch elements that can be used for a number of applications where high gain antennas are required. In order to steer the main beam of an active reflectarray, the reflected phase from each of the resonant elements can be controlled. The reflected beam can be directed in the desired direction, which makes a reflectarray capable of achieving a wide-angle electronic beam scanning Such a beamforming approach can have many advantages over traditional tunable antenna array architectures, including a significant reduction in hardware required per element and increased efficiency [17]. Available computer models of CST Microwave Studio and Ansoft HFSS were used to design unit cell patch elements with proper boundary conditions in order to analyze the scattering parameters of an infinite reflectarray. Reflectarray unit cells consisting of two patch elements were used for the waveguide scattering parameter measurements [25]
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