High-Efficiency Polarizer Reflectarray Antennas for Data Transmission Links from a CubeSat

Electronics

Eduardo Martinez-de-Rioja¹  Daniel Martinez-de-Rioja²  Ignacio Linares²  Rafael López-Sáez²  Jose A. Encinar² 

[1] Department of Signal Theory and Communications and Telematic Systems and Computing, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, 28942 Fuenlabrada, Spain;Information Processing and Telecommunications Center, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain;

关键词: broadband;    circular polarization;    CubeSat;    dual band;    high-gain antenna;    polarizer;   

DOI  :  10.3390/electronics10151802

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

This paper presents two designs of high-efficiency polarizer reflectarray antennas able to generate a collimated beam in dual-circular polarization using a linearly polarized feed, with application to high-gain antennas for data transmission links from a Cubesat. First, an 18 cm × 18 cm polarizer reflectarray operating in the 17.2–22.7 GHz band has been designed, fabricated, and tested. The measurements of the prototype show an aperture efficiency of 52.7% for right-handed circular polarization (RHCP) and 57.3% for left-handed circular polarization (LHCP), both values higher than those previously reported in related works. Then, a dual-band polarizer reflectarray is presented for the first time, which operates in dual-CP in the frequency bands of 20 GHz and 30 GHz. The proposed antenna technology enables a reduction of the complexity and cost of the feed chain to operate in dual-CP, as a linear-to-circular polarizer is no longer required. This property, combined with the lightweight, flat profile and low fabrication cost of printed reflectarrays, makes the proposed antennas good candidates for Cubesat applications.

【 授权许可】

Unknown