Investigations on Accurate Analysis of Microstrip Reflectarrays

An investigation on accurate analysis of microstrip reflectarrays is presented. Sources of error in reflectarray analysis are examined and solutions to these issues are proposed. The focus is on two sources of error, namely the determination of the equivalent currents to calculate the radiation pattern, and the inaccurate mutual coupling between array elements due to the lack of periodicity.

To serve as reference, two offset reflectarray antennas have been designed, manufactured and measured at the DTUESA Spherical Near-Field Antenna Test Facility. Comparisons of simulated and measured data are presented to verify and demonstrate the improved results using the proposed solutions.