Abstract:
Background In recent years, reflectarray antennas have received significant attention and research in the high-power microwave field due to their low profile, conformability, and spatial feed characteristics. Multi-frequency reflectarray antennas can share the same antenna plane while providing differentiated beam steering at different frequencies, resulting in greater system platform adaptability. However, these antennas commonly face the challenges of limited power handling capacity and low aperture efficiency.
Purpose This paper aims to propose a phase synthesis method for high-power, dual-band reflectarray antennas, which enhances their power handling capacity and aperture efficiency. This approach is universally applicable to the design of multi-frequency reflectarray antennas.
Methods The proposed phase synthesis method incorporates reference phase optimization and screening threshold techniques. It takes into account the reflected phase and electric field intensity of the antenna elements under different incident wave conditions. This approach effectively increases power capacity and aperture efficiency.
Results We designed an improved reflectarray antenna element and applied the proposed phase synthesis method to a dual-band reflectarray antenna design. A 27×27 array operating at 4.3 GHz and 10.0 GHz achieved aperture efficiencies of 67.37% and 48.69%, respectively, with a power capacity of hundreds of megawatts in a vacuum environment.
Conclusions The proposed phase synthesis method has been successfully validated, proving its effectiveness in designing high-performance, high-power, dual-frequency, and multi-frequency reflectarray antennas.