Bifocal Dual Reflectarray with Curved Main Surface

This paper presents a novel approach to synthesizing curved reflectarrays using Geometrical Optics (GO). It introduces the concepts of virtual normal and path length shift, which enable a vector-based formulation of the problem that can be solved using ray tracing techniques. The formulation is applied for the design of two different versions of a Dual Bifocal Reflectarray with a parabolic main surface and a flat subreflectarray. The first version aims to enhance the performance of the multibeam antenna by providing a focal ring located at the feed cluster plane. The second version focuses on improving the scanning characteristics of the antenna in the horizontal plane by incorporating two foci. The synthesis procedure yields samples of the path length shift or its derivatives. To reconstruct the phase distribution, an interpolation scheme is employed and described in this paper. Numerical results are presented for both the focal-ring and two-foci configurations, demonstrating the feasibility of this solution for multibeam or scanning satellite antennas operating in the Ka.

Automated summary

This paper proposes a new method for synthesizing curved reflectarrays using Geometrical Optics (GO). The concepts of virtual normal and path length shift are introduced to enable a vector-based formulation that can be solved using ray tracing techniques. The method is applied to design two versions of a Dual Bifocal Reflectarray, aiming to enhance the performance of multibeam antenna and improve the scanning characteristics of the antenna. Numerical results are presented to demonstrate the feasibility of this solution for multibeam or scanning satellite antennas operating in the Ka band.