Design of a compact antenna test range system based on reflectarray antenna

Abstract

A compact antenna test range (CATR) system based on a planner steppededged reflectarray antenna is proposed in this article. The parameters of the reflectarray antenna are determined by the design method of a single reflector system. Physical Optics (PO) method is used to calculate the unit phase of the reflectarray. The performance of the quiet zone is improved by optimizing the array shape. A 4320-element reflectarray antenna with a dual-ring structure is proposed and fabricated. The measured results show that the amplitude distribution of the designed reflectarray compact range is within ±1 dB, the phase distribution is within ±10 , and the crosspolarization isolations are greater than 24 dB in the region of 50% at 10 GHz. The performance of the quiet zone is favorable for the usage of CATR systems.