An Electronically 1-Bit Reconfigurable Beam-Steering Reflectarray Antenna of 12×12 Units Integrated With Pin Diodes

A Metasurface-Based Electronically Reconfigurable and Dual-Polarized Reflectarray Antenna for Beam-Steering Applications

“…This has led to the emerging of intriguing meta-devices and exploration of exotic physical phenomena, and enabling applications such as beam control and focusing lenses [3]. The versatility and potential of the RMTs drive innovative research in various fields, and has led to the study and development of reconfigurable reflectarray antennas (RRAs) [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18]. The RRAs combine the advantages of both parabolic reflectors and microstrip array antennas to overcome their limitations.…”

“…The RRAs overcome this limitation and enable dynamic EM wave manipulations. Different tuning mechanisms, such as mechanical movement [14,15], MEMS [16], liquid crystal [17,18], varactor diodes [13], and PIN diodes [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12] provide reconfigurability by changing the unit cell's reflection phase [20]. Mechanical RRAs utilize servos, micro motors, or similar equipment to change the unit cell's EM responses.…”

“…However, they have limited dynamic range, high power consumption, and complexity in designing voltage-controlled circuits. In contrast, PIN diodes are widely used in RRAs [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12], and reflection phase can be modified through the change in resistance, capacitance, and inductance with applied DC voltage. PIN diodes offer low power consumption and low insertion loss compared to varactor diodes, as well as simplicity and cost-effectiveness.…”

“…Switching the PIN diodes on or off with different DC voltages can achieve a 180° reflection phase change, making them suitable for 1-bit programmable RRA. Programmable controllers such as field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) [10,21] and microcontroller units (MCUs) [5,6,12,13,22,23] are used to achieve programmability in RRA. These controllers not only respond to external stimuli, but also bridge EM characteristics and digital information systems, enabling communication and coordination between the physical world and the digital domain.…”

“…Recently, RRAs have generated substantial research interests, with several reported works focusing on singlepolarized RRAs [5][6][7][8][9]13]. Works in [6] and [7] present singleband, single-polarized 1-bit RRAs operating at 5.8 GHz and 9.85 GHz. A dual-band, single-polarized RRA is demonstrated in [9], utilizing a rectangular patch with a PIN diode.…”