Modeling and Design of Electronically Tunable Reflectarrays

The reflectarray has significant promise in applications requiring high-gain, low-profile reflectors. Recent advances in tuning technology have raised the possibility of realizing electronically tunable reflectarrays, which can dynamically adjust their radiation patterns. This paper presents an electronically tunable reflectarray based on elements tuned using varactor diodes. Modeling approaches based on an equivalent circuit representation and computational electromagnetics simulations are presented. Both techniques accurately predict the scattering characteristics of the unit cell as compared to experimental measurements. The development of a unit cell with over 320 omicron of phase agility at 5.5 GHz is discussed. Finally, a 70-element electronically tunable reflectarray prototype operating at 5.8 GHz is presented. Radiation pattern measurements with the reflectarray demonstrate its dynamic beam-forming characteristics. Measurements of the gain of the reflectarray correlate well with theoretical expectations.