Exploiting non-radiating currents in reflectarray antenna design

A new paradigm for the design of reflectarrays is introduced. The proposed methodology allows the designer to specify constraints/simplifications on the antenna surface current distribution thanks to an innovative exploitation the non-radiating (NR) component, which is regarded a powerful additional degree-of-freedom (DoF) in the synthesis process. An illustrative example is presented, aimed at nulling the current density within a selected sub-region of a planar reflectarray by means of a suitable particle swarm optimization (PSO) of the NR contribution. The effectiveness and the potentialities of the proposed feasible source synthesis methodology are verified by means of a numerical benchmark, opening the doors to a completely new horizon in the design of next generation reflectarrays.