All-metal Ka-Band Waveguide Reflectarray Antenna for Space Applications

Abstract

This paper reports the design and analysis of an all-metal reflectarray antenna that has a beam steering capability of 20 ° from the broadside. The reflectarray consists of a $5 \times 5$ uniform grid of unit cells which are made from rectangular waveguide elements. The depths of the waveguides are varied in such a way that progressive phase shifts are obtained in order to steer the main beam toward the desired direction. The unit cell as well as the designed reflectarray were comprehensively analyzed using numerical electromagnetic simulations. The measured gain of the fabricated waveguide reflectarray is 16.1 dBi at 33.25 GHz and its 3-dB gain bandwidth is 22%. The proposed reflectarray antenna is capable to steer its main beam toward 18 ° off broadside.