Liquid crystal technology for reconfigurable satcom applications

Modern satellite communication scenarios require a steerable antenna pattern e.g. to continuously align the antenna of a low earth orbit satellite toward a geostationary relay satellite. One promising solution especially in the higher frequency bands starting from Ku-band is based on liquid crystal as functional material. Based on the anisotropy of this material tunable components and systems like phase shifters and array antennas can be built. This paper shows the potential of specially synthesized liquid crystals for the use in phased array antennas for SatCom applications.