1‐Bit reconfigurable reflectarray antenna with T‐shaped parasitic structure

Abstract In this paper, an electronically 1‐bit reconfigurable reflectarray antenna (RRA) with wide‐angle beam‐scanning and high efficiency performance is presented for formation satellite communication applications. A 1‐bit phase distribution can be generated by controlling the state of the PIN dipole in the configurable element comprising a double split ring (DSR) patch and two T‐shaped parasitic structures. The resonant frequency of the DSR patch in both states can be optimised by a T‐shaped parasitic structure, which is beneficial to improving the bandwidth and aperture efficiency. A 180° ± 20° phase difference can be realised from 9.7 to 10.3 GHz only by controlling one PIN dipole loaded on the proposed element, which ensures stable radiation performance over a larger band. To validate the effectiveness of the proposed element, a prototype RRA containing 20 × 20 units is designed and measured. A ±60° beam scanning range with the gain drop of 3.2 and 3.3 dB in the xoz and yoz planes is realised, which verifies the wide‐angle beam‐scanning ability of the RRA. The measured peak gain is 25 dBi at 10 GHz in the broadside direction, corresponding to an aperture efficiency of 25.2%. Meanwhile, the 1‐dB gain bandwidth of the proposed RRA is 12.6%.