A Spray-on Reconfigurable Reflectarray Element Using Polymer Dispersed Liquid Crystal

A multilayer aerosol jet printed (AJP) tuneable metamaterial reflectarray structure capable of 1-bit phase control between 0° and 180° effects at 30GHz is designed and simulated. The reflectarray is tuned through the input of a DC stimulus to a biasing layer that alters the permittivity of a polymer dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) layer. Integrated biasing layers close to the PDLC are designed to provide a biasing electric field at lower voltages and with minimal effects on element performance. Numerical modelling shows a tuning bandwidth of approximately 700MHz around 30GHz, allowing 180° phase change with loss of between 0.9dB and 3.4dB.