A Metasurface- Loaded $\pm 80^{\circ}$-Scanning Phased Array Antenna with Active VSWR $\leq 2$ for SATCOM Applications

A Ku-band dual-polarized metasurface-loaded stacked patch phased array antenna is proposed. The hexagonal lattice and dual polarization are optimized to increase the directivity and system communication capacity, respectively. The metasurface realized with four symmetrical split ring unit cells introduces additional magnetic dipole modes to improve active impedance matching and broaden scanning range across all azimuth planes. A probe-direct-fed stacked patch antenna without blind vias is designed to enhance bandwidth and simplify the PCB stackup. To validate the concept, the metasurface and a 4 <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$\times 4$</tex> array are fabricated and tested. Both simulated and measured results demonstrate a ultra - wide-angle scanning of <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$\pm 80^{\circ}$</tex> and a broad bandwidth of 13.4-14.7 GHz (covering the full transmitter band for Ku-band SATCOM ground terminals) with active voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$\leq 2$</tex>, representing a significant improvement over conventional dielectric superstrate loading.