Millimeter-Wave Frequency Reconfigurable Reflectarray Antenna Based on Germanium Telluride Film

In this manuscript, a novel frequency- and phase-independent reconfigurable method based on germanium telluride (GeTe) film is proposed and used for millimeter-wave frequency reconfigurable reflectarray (F-RRA) antenna. By embedding the GeTe films in the square ring and phase delay line respectively, frequency- and phase-independent reconfigurable reflectarray (FPI-RRA) element can be achieved, which can switch the operating frequency between 28 and 38 GHz, and the compensation phase can cover 360 ° in two band, with loss less than 2 dB. The proposed F-RRA can achieve large 1-dB gain bandwidths of 11.9% and 12.5% and the maximum gains of 23.3 dBi and 25.2 dBi. Compared with other reported works, this frequency- and phase-independent reconfigurable method based on GeTe film is not only simple and flexible, but also achieves broadband and high aperture efficiency, which enables the proposed F-RRA antenna potentially applicable to 5G millimeter wave communication systems