Evaluation of the reflected phase of a patch using waveguide simulator for reflectarray design

This paper presents the measured reflected phase-variation curves for microstrip-patch elements of variable Size, which form the most essential part in the design of a reflectarray antenna. A waveguide simulator exploiting the concept of infinite array is successfully implemented in the characterization of reflected phase, which avoids the need for large arrays for the empirical design of an element. A set of seven microstrip-array samples, each consisting of three square elements of the same size designed at 10 GHz, is measured. A comparison of the simulations using the finite-element method and the measured results shows good agreement. The phase variation is in the range of + 167 degrees to - 178 degrees,for a patch-size variation of 5.5 to 13 mm. (c) 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.