Axial-rotation beam-steering folded reflective-transmissive hybrid array

Abstract

Based on the concept of Risley prism and phase gradient lens theory for beam steerability, an innovative architecture for reducing the phase coverage of a phase gradient transmitarray is proposed by using axially rotating beam steering antenna. By employing the proposed folded antenna system, the profile height is reduced by half and the implementation of transmitarray is simplified with only $180°$ phase coverage for supercells due to the twice transmission. A concise linear-polarized prototype is designed and experimented for validation. The measured results demonstrate that the system can realize the beam-steering within a conical solid angle ranging $\pm 49°$, with a peak gain of 24.8 dBi at the $0°$ beam direction at 30 GHz. The proposed axial-rotation folded reflective-transmissive hybrid array provides a new approach for beam steering which is a good candidate for communication systems.