Reflectarray Antennas

6Reflectarray Design Examples

In the previous chapters, a systematic design and analysis procedure for reflectarray antennas was outlined in detail. In this chapter, we present several design examples of reflectarray antennas that can serve as a valuable reference for the readers. The first example is a comprehensive design of Ku‐band reflectarray, outlining all steps in design, analysis, fabrication, and testing. Moreover, several representative design examples, including a Ka‐band circularly polarized reflectarray antenna and a comparative study of Ku‐band reflectarrays using different element shapes, are also provided in a concise fashion.

6.1 A Ku‐band Reflectarray Antenna: A Step‐by‐Step Design Example

6.1.1 Feed Antenna Characteristics

As discussed earlier, the feed antenna radiation characteristics are one of the most influential measures in the design. Similar to reflector antennas [1]–[3], typically the engineer has two options for the feed design. Either a specific feed antenna is to be used for the design, in which case the system parameters need to be selected appropriately; or a feed antenna can be designed that achieves optimum radiation characteristics for a desired system. While the latter option generally provides the engineer with several degrees of freedom in designing the reflectarray, low‐cost prototyping typically limits the engineer to the former option.

For this Ku‐band design, we select a commercially available pyramidal horn antenna (LB 62–15) from ...