A quad-polarization reconfigurable transmitarray antenna with beam-scanning and reconfigurable polarization capabilities

Abstract In this paper, a novel quad-polarized electronically reconfigurable transmitarray antenna(QRTA) is proposed, which can actively switch among four linear-polarization modes and steer beam-scanning in these polarization modes. The QRTA element follows a receiving-transmitting structure. Its receiver or transmitter is composed of four rotationally symmetric patches and a coupling patch. Four rotationally symmetric patches generate x- and y-polarization modes, while coupling patches on the top and bottom layers of the QRTA element are designed to synthesize x-, 45 ◦ -, y-, and 135 ◦ -polarization modes. The QRTA element utilizes a reverse symmetry current method to achieve a 180 ◦ phase difference in the radiated electromagnetic waves. By manipulating the state of the p-i-n diodes, the proposed QRTA element can achieve four LP functions and a 1-bit phase shift. Based on the proposed novel QRTA element, a 10 × 10 elements QRTA prototype is fabricated and measured. The measured results demonstrate that the proposed QRTA can electronically switch between four LP modes and achieve beam-scanning in those LP modes. The proposed QRTA shows several advantages, including low cost, multi-polarization capability, high gain, and beam-scanning, which means that it can enhance the polarization capabilities and intelligence of wireless communication systems.