A Wideband Reflectarray Antenna for Satellite Application with Low Cross-Polarization

Abstract

A double-layer element consisting of a spider-shaped structure on the top layer and a pair of concave arms with a circular ring on the middle layer is proposed for the wideband reflectarray with low cross-polarization characteristics. The unit cell offers a linear and wider phase range of 800 (Formula presented.). Based on the proposed unit cell, an offset-fed reflectarray with an octagonal aperture comprising 6769 unit cells is constructed at 11.725 GHz. The reflectarray offers 1 dB and 3 dB gain bandwidths of 25.2% and 32.3%, respectively, with an operating frequency range of 10–13.85 GHz. A peak gain of 31.2 dBi with an aperture efficiency of 42% is achieved. The cross-polarization levels are less than the co-polarization by 40 dB over the entire operating band.