An Azimuth-Pattern Reconfigurable Antenna Based on Water Grating Reflector

A novel azimuth-pattern reconfigurable antenna based on a water grating reflector is proposed in this paper. A planar circular monopole antenna operating at 5.7-GHz band is designed with three sets of water grating reflectors mounted along the edge of the antenna with an angle-interval of 120°. By choosing the states of loading and unloading water, each set of water grating is switched as a reflector. Radiation patterns of the antenna can be pointed to three specified directions with different angle intervals in the azimuth plane. Key structures of the water grating reflector that affect the radiation performance of the antenna have been investigated in this paper. Simulated and measured results show that the proposed approach is a potential candidate for beam-steering applications.