Npl Management Limited

Tim Brown

Craig Underwood

Ghulam Ahmad

Tian Hong Loh

Reflectarray antenna elements, reflectarrays, and a method of operating an antenna element are described. A reflectarray antenna element includes a patch () of electrically conductive material for reflecting an electromagnetic field; a dielectric substrate () providing an RF ground; first and second phase control lines () of electrically conductive material arranged to interact with electromagnetic radiation with a first polarisation; a first binary switching device () having an ON or OFF state disposed between the patch and ground, and configured to selectively electrically couple the patch to ground via the first phase control line; a second binary switching device () having an ON or OFF state disposed between the patch and ground, and configured to selectively electrically couple the patch to ground via the second phase control line; a single DC bias input electrically coupled to the patch and configurable to different discrete voltage levels for selectively controlling the states of the switching devices. Selective operation of the first and second binary switching devices occurs by means of the DC bias input provides phase control of electromagnetic radiation dependent on the state of the switching devices. Described is a phase control mechanism of unit cells to enable a reconfigurable/smart reflectarray platform.

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Guildford, United Kingdom

Tim Brown