Preliminary Geometry Analysis for Compact Scanning and Multi-Beam Reflectarray Antennas

Abstract

This work presents a comparative study between two common compact configurations for reflectarray (RA) beam scanning in Ka-band: focal-arc and linear feed displacements. A reference phase-only design is defined for a collimated pattern, and the natural degradation caused by feed de-focusing is studied for each case. Practical considerations regarding the implementation of each solution are also discussed. Finally, the discrepancies between the presented phase-only study and a physical cell response are evaluated. A layout is defined, and its response is calculated for a set of feed positions considering the real incidence angles at each cell. These results are compared to the previous phase-only analysis.