Wideband design and modeling of efficient multi-resonance reflective linear-to-circular polarization converter

Abstract

A reflective linear-to-circular polarization converter based on dual frequency-selective structures (FSSs) is proposed and modeled to exhibit efficient wideband performance. The design utilizes a diagonal array of two connected circular patches as an effective anisotropy with regular current distribution in several successive resonances, resulting in orthogonal reflections with a 90° phase difference. The relevant upper-part characteristic is improved by using two separate square patches as a high-frequency resonator. This design with distinct key parameters leads to high overlapping and then excellent bandwidth and efficiency over 105% and 96%, respectively, with an axial ratio below 1.7 dB. A sophisticated equivalent circuit-admittance model including effective mutual coupling between two FSSs is extracted, featuring closed-form equations for the physical design. Different dielectric constants are studied on the converter, which offer controllable coverage in the range of 3–24 GHz (S, C, X, Ku, and K bands), variably. For actual validation, a very thin (0.04λ0 at 3.65 GHz) 8 × 8 array prototype was built and measured at different incident angles, showing angular stability up to 45° in 78% (6–14 GHz) bandwidth. This converter has potential applications in communication, spectroscopy, detection, and imaging in micro-, mm-, and THz-wave regions.