Design of a Dual-Polarized Stacked Patch Antenna for Wide-Angle Scanning Reflectarrays

Abstract

A novel dual-polarized stacked patch antenna element for wide-angle scanning satcom on the move applications at Ka-band is presented. The proposed highly integrated multilayer unit cell element operates from 27.8 to 30.8 GHz with excellent scan performance up to ±60° in both E- and H-planes. High port-to-port isolation in the entire scan volume evidences the antenna's distinguished suitability for integration into an active folded reflectarray transceiver architecture. Parasitic effects in planar array antennas degrading the intended scan volume are investigated using the infinite array analysis, and measures are introduced to suppress them efficiently. To validate the proposed antenna design, several configurations were fabricated and measured successfully. The experimental results show close agreement with the simulations and indicate its excellent scanning capabilities.