Reconfigurable Fresnel-Zone-Plate-Shutter Antenna with Beam-Steering Capability

A reconfigurable Fresnel-zone-plate (FZP) antenna, capable of dynamic beam scanning, is introduced. The FZP consists of a series of thin metal shutters, which discretize the antenna aperture into a number of reconfigurable transparent and opaque zones. The shutters are individually controlled to focus the beam at a desired location. Beam scanning of at least +40deg from broadside with a small degradation in gain is possible in one plane using this design. This paper examines the effects of zone discretization on the ideal radiation patterns using full-wave numerical modeling. These effects are then verified by the measurements of a prototype antenna designed at 23 GHz.