A Metasurface-Based Electronically Reconfigurable and Dual-Polarized Reflectarray Antenna for Beam-Steering Applications

Abstract

In this work, a metasurface-based, 1-bit electronically reconfigurable reflectarray antenna (RRA) is proposed for dual-polarization beam-steering applications. The proposed RRA consists of $16\times16$ Jerusalem cross-shaped unit cells loaded with PIN diodes, which are used as active and reconfigurable devices to generate a reflection phase difference of 180° between their on- and off-states. An optimal focal length to diameter ratio $(f/D)$ for the feed antenna is determined to maximize its radiation coverage on the RRA. Microcontroller-based shift registers are used to resolve the complexity of the individual DC bias networks for the PIN diodes. The proposed RRA is designed, fabricated, and measured to evaluate its beam-steering performance. The measurement results show that the proposed RRA can achieve beam-steering of ±60° for x- and y-polarizations in both azimuth and elevation planes. Moreover, the proposed RRA is further verified by full-wave simulations to evaluate its additional functions, such as the generation of sum and difference beams for monopulse radar systems. The proposed RRA is anticipated to have significant potential in areas such as wireless communications, imaging, and radar systems, and is a particularly suitable candidate for reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RISs) due to its adaptability and capability of dynamically generating different radiation patterns.

Keywords

• Reconfigurable reflectarray antenna
• reflective metasurface
• beam-steering
• PIN diode