True-Time-Delay Unit Cell for Ultra-Wideband Single- and Wideband Dual-Polarized Large Reflectarrays

This paper presents the design and experimental validation of novel ultra-wideband true-time-delay (TTD) reflectarray unit cells for large-scale antenna applications. Two configurations are proposed: a single-polarized unit cell and a dual-polarized unit cell, both utilizing aperture-coupled stacked...

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Main Authors: Reza Shamsaee Malfajani, Karim Glatre, Jean-Jacques Laurin
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IEEE 2025-01-01
Series:IEEE Access
Subjects:
Online Access:https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/11083604/
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author Reza Shamsaee Malfajani
Karim Glatre
Jean-Jacques Laurin
author_facet Reza Shamsaee Malfajani
Karim Glatre
Jean-Jacques Laurin
author_sort Reza Shamsaee Malfajani
collection DOAJ
description This paper presents the design and experimental validation of novel ultra-wideband true-time-delay (TTD) reflectarray unit cells for large-scale antenna applications. Two configurations are proposed: a single-polarized unit cell and a dual-polarized unit cell, both utilizing aperture-coupled stacked microstrip circular patches. The single-polarized unit cell employs a parasitic patch, an hourglass-shaped aperture, and a fork-shaped delay line, achieving a linear phase range exceeding 1040° at 13.1 GHz with a phase error below 25° and a linear phase bandwidth of 53% (9.6–16.6 GHz). A reflectarray prototype demonstrates a 3-dB gain bandwidth of 44.4% (10.5–16.5 GHz), with cross-polarization below -30 dB, sidelobe levels better than −13.5 dB, and aperture efficiency up to 55%. The dual-polarized unit cell incorporates perpendicular bowtie-shaped apertures with fork-shaped feeds, enabling independent phase control for both polarizations with a phase range over 1140° at 12.6 GHz, a phase error below 40°, and a linear phase bandwidth of 32% (10.7–14.5 GHz). A dual-polarized reflectarray achieves a 3-dB gain bandwidth of 36.1%, maximum gains of 32 dBi and 31.75 dBi for orthogonal polarizations, cross-polarization below −26 dB, sidelobe levels below −13 dB, and aperture efficiency up to 50%. Both designs exhibit low loss, stable beam direction, and high scalability, significantly advancing wideband reflectarray performance for satellite and communication systems.
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institution Kabale University
issn 2169-3536
language English
publishDate 2025-01-01
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spelling doaj-art-2e190bd8c83d4bf2897a8f853749f0532025-08-20T03:55:48ZengIEEEIEEE Access2169-35362025-01-011312637612638910.1109/ACCESS.2025.359026111083604True-Time-Delay Unit Cell for Ultra-Wideband Single- and Wideband Dual-Polarized Large ReflectarraysReza Shamsaee Malfajani0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1803-1705Karim Glatre1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4098-6877Jean-Jacques Laurin2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5697-7879Department of Electrical Engineering, Polytechnique Montréal, Montreal, QC, CanadaChief Architect Office, MDA Space, Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, QC, CanadaDepartment of Electrical Engineering, Polytechnique Montréal, Montreal, QC, CanadaThis paper presents the design and experimental validation of novel ultra-wideband true-time-delay (TTD) reflectarray unit cells for large-scale antenna applications. Two configurations are proposed: a single-polarized unit cell and a dual-polarized unit cell, both utilizing aperture-coupled stacked microstrip circular patches. The single-polarized unit cell employs a parasitic patch, an hourglass-shaped aperture, and a fork-shaped delay line, achieving a linear phase range exceeding 1040° at 13.1 GHz with a phase error below 25° and a linear phase bandwidth of 53% (9.6–16.6 GHz). A reflectarray prototype demonstrates a 3-dB gain bandwidth of 44.4% (10.5–16.5 GHz), with cross-polarization below -30 dB, sidelobe levels better than −13.5 dB, and aperture efficiency up to 55%. The dual-polarized unit cell incorporates perpendicular bowtie-shaped apertures with fork-shaped feeds, enabling independent phase control for both polarizations with a phase range over 1140° at 12.6 GHz, a phase error below 40°, and a linear phase bandwidth of 32% (10.7–14.5 GHz). A dual-polarized reflectarray achieves a 3-dB gain bandwidth of 36.1%, maximum gains of 32 dBi and 31.75 dBi for orthogonal polarizations, cross-polarization below −26 dB, sidelobe levels below −13 dB, and aperture efficiency up to 50%. Both designs exhibit low loss, stable beam direction, and high scalability, significantly advancing wideband reflectarray performance for satellite and communication systems.https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/11083604/True time delaymicrostrip patchphase delay linesreflectarraylinear phase curveultra-wideband
spellingShingle Reza Shamsaee Malfajani
Karim Glatre
Jean-Jacques Laurin
True-Time-Delay Unit Cell for Ultra-Wideband Single- and Wideband Dual-Polarized Large Reflectarrays
IEEE Access
True time delay
microstrip patch
phase delay lines
reflectarray
linear phase curve
ultra-wideband
title True-Time-Delay Unit Cell for Ultra-Wideband Single- and Wideband Dual-Polarized Large Reflectarrays
title_full True-Time-Delay Unit Cell for Ultra-Wideband Single- and Wideband Dual-Polarized Large Reflectarrays
title_fullStr True-Time-Delay Unit Cell for Ultra-Wideband Single- and Wideband Dual-Polarized Large Reflectarrays
title_full_unstemmed True-Time-Delay Unit Cell for Ultra-Wideband Single- and Wideband Dual-Polarized Large Reflectarrays
title_short True-Time-Delay Unit Cell for Ultra-Wideband Single- and Wideband Dual-Polarized Large Reflectarrays
title_sort true time delay unit cell for ultra wideband single and wideband dual polarized large reflectarrays
topic True time delay
microstrip patch
phase delay lines
reflectarray
linear phase curve
ultra-wideband
url https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/11083604/
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AT karimglatre truetimedelayunitcellforultrawidebandsingleandwidebanddualpolarizedlargereflectarrays
AT jeanjacqueslaurin truetimedelayunitcellforultrawidebandsingleandwidebanddualpolarizedlargereflectarrays