Dual-band reflectarrays using microstrip ring elements and their applications with various feeding arrangements

In recent years there has been a growing demand for reduced mass, small launch volume, and, at the same time, high-gain large-aperture antenna systems in modern space-borne applications. This dissertation introduces new techniques for dual-band reflectarray antennas to meet these requirements. A series of developments is presented to show the dual-band capability of the reflectarray. A novel microstrip ring structure has been developed to achieve circular polarization (CP). A C/Ka dual-band front-fed reflectarray antenna has been designed to demonstrate the dual-band circular polarized operation. The proposed ring structure provides many advantages of compact size, more freedom in the selection of element spacing, less blockage between circuit layers, and broader CP bandwidth as compared to the patches. An X/Ka dual-band offset-fed reflectarray is made of thin membranes, with their thickness equal to 0.0508 mm in both layers. Several degrading effects of thin substrates are discussed. To overcome these problems, a new configuration is developed by inserting empty spaces of the proper thickness below both the X and Ka band membranes. More than 50 % efficiencies are achieved at both frequency ranges, and the proposed scheme is expected to be a good candidate to meet the demand for future inflatable antenna systems. An X/Ka dual-band microstrip reflectarray with circular polarization has also been constructed using thin membranes and a Cassegrain offset-fed configuration. It is believed that this is the first Cassegrain reflectarray ever developed. This antenna has a 0.75-meter-diameter aperture and uses a metallic sub-reflector and angular-rotated annular ring elements. It achieved a measured 3 dB gain bandwidth of 700 MHz at Xband and 1.5 GHz at Ka-band, as well as a CP bandwidth (3 dB axial ratio) of more than 700 MHz at X-band and more than 2 GHz at Ka-band. The measured peak efficiencies are 49.8 % at X-band and 48. 2 % at Ka-band. In summary, this dissertation presents a series of new research developments to support the dual-band operation of the reflectarray antenna. The results of this work are currently being implemented onto a 3-meter reflectarray with inflatable structures at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and are planned for other applications such as an 8-meter inflatable reflectarray in the near future.