Design of a Single Layer Ku Band Reflectarray Antenna based on Hexagonal Unit Cell for Satellite Applications

This paper proposes the design of a single layer reflect-array antenna for the purpose of satellite communications. The radiating element, also termed unit cell, possesses a hexagonal geometry with embedded slots. The unit cell operates at the transmitter center frequencies of 12.75 GHz, 13.6 GHz and 14.5 GHz. The receiver center frequencies are 10.7 GHz, 11.2 GHz and 11.7 GHz. The unit cell is designed for linear polarization and achieves more than 360 degrees of reflected phase range for all the frequencies. The unit cell is etched on a standard Taconic RF-35 substrate with dielectric constant 3.55 and thickness 1.524 mm. A 7x7 reflect-array antenna is designed from the unit cell for the array size of 100mm x 133mm. The designed reflect-array antenna is simulated using CST MWS. The simulated results exhibit a far-field gain of 16.2 dBi with side lobe level of -6.6 dB for the receiver center frequency of 11.2 GHz and a 13.6 dBi with side lobe level of -4 dB for transmitter band center frequency of 13.6 GHz.