A Wideband 1 bit 12 × 12 Reconfigurable Beam-Scanning Reflectarray: Design, Fabrication, and Measurement

• Published in: IEEE antennas and wireless propagation letters Vol. 18; no. 6; pp. 1268 - 1272
• Main Authors: Han, Jiaqi, Li, Long, Liu, Guangyao, Wu, Zhao, Shi, Yan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York IEEE 01.06.2019; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Antenna; Antenna arrays; Antenna measurements; Bandwidths; beam scanning; Broadband; Diodes; Gain measurement; Phase shift; PIN diode; PIN diodes; PIN photodiodes; reconfigurable reflectarray; Reconfiguration; Reflection; Scanning; Soldering; Varactors; Wideband
• ISSN: 1536-1225; 1548-5757
• DOI: 10.1109/LAWP.2019.2914399

In this letter, a wideband 1 bit 12 × 12 reconfigurable beam-scanning reflectarray is designed, fabricated, and measured. The 1 bit reconfigurable element is realized by soldering PIN diode into a slotted metallic square patch. To enhance the bandwidth of 1 bit reconfigurable reflectarray, we choose the central frequency at 5.0 GHz whose phase shift is 200° where the maximum phase shift occurs. Phase difference within 180° ± 20° is realized from 4.7 to 5.3 GHz. Utilizing this wideband element, the 12 × 12 reconfigurable reflectarray antenna is fabricated and measured. A control board that can display phase shift distributions in real time is designed to regulate all PIN diodes independently. Experimental results show that beam scanning within ±50° can be achieved both in xoz and yoz plane at 5.0 GHz. Also, the measured results present that −1 dB gain bandwidth is 8.4% from 4.85 to 5.275 GHz.