IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ANTENNAS AND PROPAGATION, VOL. 54, NO.

10, OCTOBER 2006

2827

Dual-Polarization Dual-Coverage Reflectarray for

Space Applications
Jose A. Encinar, Member, IEEE, Leri Sh. Datashvili, J. Agustn Zornoza, Manuel Arrebola,
Manuel Sierra-Castaer, Member, IEEE, Jose Luis Besada-Sanmartn, Horst Baier, and Herv Legay

AbstractA breadboard of a three-layer printed reflectarray

for dual polarization with a different coverage in each polarization
has been designed, manufactured, and tested. The reflectarray
consists of three layers of rectangular patch arrays separated by
a honeycomb and backed by a ground plane. The beam shaping
for each polarization is achieved by adjusting the phase of the
reflection coefficient at each reflective element independently for
each linear polarization. The phase shift for each polarization is
controlled by varying either the x or y patch dimensions. The
dimensions of the rectangular patches are optimized to achieve
the required phase shift for each beam at central and extreme
frequencies in the working band. The reflectarray has been designed to produce a contoured beam for a European coverage
in H-polarization in a 10% bandwidth, and a pencil beam to
illuminate the East Coast in North America in V-polarization.
The measured radiation patterns show that gain requirements are
practically fulfilled in a 10% bandwidth for both coverages, and
the electrical performances of the breadboard are close to those of
a classical dual gridded reflector.
Index TermsContoured beam, dual gridded reflector, dual
polarization, multilayer, printed arrays, reflectarray.

I. INTRODUCTION

RINTED reflectarrays with contoured beams can be an alternative to the onboard shaped reflectors in space applications, because of their lower cost and shorter manufacturing
time, since custom moulds are eliminated. A contoured beam reflectarray was demonstrated in [1] for Direct Broadcast Satellite
(DBS) applications using a single-layer printed reflectarray with
patches of variable size [2]. However, this breadboard suffered
from the bandwidth limitations inherent in single-layer reflectarrays, as shown in [3] and [4]. The bandwidth in large reflectarrays can be improved by stacking three layers of rectangular
patches and optimizing the patch dimensions to compensate the
spatial phase delay in the working frequency band, as proposed
in [5]. Using this technique, a 1-m reflectarray was designed
-band. The same
for a focused beam with 10% bandwidth at
technique was applied in [6] to design an 80-cm contoured beam
-band for a South American coverage with
reflectarray in
10% bandwidth.
Manuscript received February 1, 2006; revised May 10, 2006. This work has
was supported by ESA ESTEC under Contract ESTEC/16919/02/NL/JA.
J. A. Encinar, M. Arrebola, M. Sierra-Castaer, and J. L. Besada-Sanmartn
are with Universidad Politecnica de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain (e-mail:
encinar@etc.upm.es).
L. S. Datashvili and H. Baier are with the Institute of Lightweight Structures,
TU Munich, D-85747 Garching, Germany.
J. A. Zornoza is with Antenna CoC, EADS Astrium Ltd., Stevenage SG1
2AS, U.K.
H. Legay is with Alcatel Alenia Space, Toulouse, France.
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TAP.2006.882172

Reflectarrays can be easily designed for dual polarization

with low levels of cross polarization. A reflectarray made up
of two arrays of orthogonal dipoles of variable lengths was
proposed in [7] for dual polarization and frequency reuse,
in which the array of vertical dipoles acts as a reflector for
the vertical polarization and that of horizontal dipoles for the
other polarization. Reflectarrays using single or multiple layers
of rectangular patches can also be designed for dual linear
polarization, by an independent adjustment of the orthogonal
dimensions of the patches, as described in [3] and [4]. Furthermore, the reflectarray can be designed to work at different
frequencies for each linear polarization. A reflectarray was
designed for operation at 24 and 60 GHz in orthogonal linear
polarizations, by choosing different period and by independent
adjustment of the patch dimensions in the orthogonal directions
of the reflectarray [8].
Dual polarization antennas in space applications require very
high isolation between polarizations, which cannot be achieved
with parabolic or shaped offset reflectors. To obtain this isolation between polarizations, dual-gridded reflectors with two superimposed grid reflectors and a separate feed for each polarization are used. The dual-gridded antenna is a mature concept in
terms of technological process and simulation tools, but suffers
from high cost and large volume and mass. Provided that the required bandwidth for space applications can be achieved with a
three-layer configuration, and taking advantage of the low level
of cross polarization of the reflectarrays, dual polarization reflectarrays can be an alternative to dual-gridded reflectors. The
phase adjustment in the reflectarray is carried out independently
for each polarization, allowing the use of two separate feeds of
linear polarization, as shown in Fig. 1. If two feeds located at
different focal points are used, one for each polarization, the dimensions of the conductive patches in each element can be adjusted to compensate the position of each feed. The dimensions
can also be adjusted in order to generate two collimated beams
in different directions, one for each polarization.
In the present work, a three-layer reflectarray has been designed to replace a dual-gridded reflector in a Telecom satellite
for dual polarization with different coverages in each polarization. A contoured beam for an European coverage is required
for H-polarization in the frequency band 11.4512.75 GHz, and
a pencil beam to illuminate the East Coast in North America
(Washington DC, New York, and Montreal, QC, Canada) with
V-polarization in the frequency band 11.4511.7 GHz. In reflector technology, these requirements can only be met with
a dual-gridded reflector, with a different reflecting surface for

0018-926X/$20.00 2006 IEEE

2828

IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ANTENNAS AND PROPAGATION, VOL. 54, NO. 10, OCTOBER 2006

Fig. 1. Dual-polarization dual-coverage three-layer reflectarray. (a) Periodic

cell. (b) Reflectarray configuration.

each polarization. The novelty of this work is the demonstration

that two independent beams, one for each polarization, can be
generated with a single reflectarray surface, and consequently, a
significant reduction in mass and volume is achieved. A breadboard has been designed, manufactured, and tested, including
mechanical and thermo-elastic aspects for space applications.
The antenna performances are close to those of the reference
dual-gridded antenna.
II. ELECTRICAL DESIGN
The coverage requirements for H- and V-polarization are
shown in Fig. 2 for a satellite at 5 West orbital position. For
H-polarization, the requirements consist of two gain contours of
28.5 dBi (solid line) and 25.5 dBi (dashed line). For V-polarization, the minimum gain requirement is 37 dBi in the coverage
region. The outer contours represent the specifications taking
into account typical pointing errors of the satellite (0.1 in roll,
0.1 in pitch, and 0.5 in yaw). A cross-polar discrimination
of 30 dB is required for both coverages. These requirements
are fulfilled by a conventional dual-gridded reflector antenna
with 1-m diameter reflecting surfaces, which has been designed, manufactured, and tested by Alcatel Alenia Space, and
it is considered as reference for comparison of the electrical
performances.

Fig. 2. Contoured requirements for Europe (H-polarization) and North American (V-polarization) coverages.

A. Subsystem Definition
To fulfill the previous requirements in beam shaping, gain,
bandwidth, and cross polarization, a three-layer printed reflectarray with rectangular patches of variable size [6] is proposed.
The periodic cell and the reflectarray configuration are shown
in Fig. 1. The reflectarray consists of an elliptical flat panel with
axes 1036 980 mm, which is the same aperture surface as in
the dual-gridded antenna, and with the reflective surface placed
plane. The reflectarray is made up of three stacked
on the
arrays of rectangular patches on a ground plane, with the elements uniformly distributed in a square grid. The total number
of elements is 4068 distributed in 74 columns and 70 rows. The
plane,
two feedhorns are placed with the phase center on the
so that the projection of the field radiated by each feed on the
plane is parallel to one side of the rectangular patches, and
then the phase shift for each polarization can be controlled independently by each patch dimension.
A corrugated horn is used for both feeds. It has been checked
functhat the radiation patterns can be simulated as a
tion. The power has been chosen at each frequency to fit the

ENCINAR et al.: DUAL-POLARIZATION DUAL-COVERAGE REFLECTARRAY FOR SPACE APPLICATIONS

2829

TABLE I
VALUES USED FOR q FACTOR TO SIMULATE THE RADIATION
PATTERNS OF FEED HORN

horn patterns and the results are given in Table I. The coordinates (in millimeters) of the phase center for each feed are
and
chosen as
for V- and H-polarization, respectively. These feed positions
provide an illumination at the reflectarray edges 18.6 dB for
H-polarization and 16 dB for V-polarization at central frequencies, which are typical values in shaped reflector antennas.
The period for the reflective elements is defined as 14 14 mm
(
at 12.75 GHz and
at 11.45 GHz). Both feed locations and period have been chosen to avoid the appearance of
grating lobes at any reflectarray element, considering the angle
of incidence of the field coming from the feed.
For the contoured European beam, a phase-only synthesis
technique based on the intersection approach has been applied
to obtain the phase distribution on the reflectarray surface for
H-polarization. For V-polarization, a pencil beam is considered because it provides the maximum gain and fulfills the gain
requirements.
B. Pattern Synthesis for European Coverage in H-Polarization
The contoured beam requirements are specified by a mask
with minimum and maximum values of gain in a region of the
plane for H-polarization. Due to the very large number
of elements in a reflectarray for space applications, a direct
synthesis method, in which the patch dimensions are optimized
simultaneously to synthesize a required radiation pattern, is
impractical and the procedure in two steps described in [6] is
implemented. In the first step, assuming a fixed amplitude distribution on the reflectarray surface given by the feed radiation
pattern, a phase-only synthesis is applied to compute the phase
of the reflected field at each reflectarray element that provides
the required contoured pattern. In the second step, the patch
dimensions are adjusted element by element to achieve the
previous phase distribution and its frequency variations in a
given frequency band.
In the first step, a several-stage phase-only synthesis method
based on the intersection approach technique [9] is applied to
achieve the phase distribution for a required pattern at a given
frequency as described in [10]. This synthesis method presents
an effective converge to a desired solution and is very efficient
for reflectarrays with a large number of elements as a result of
using two-dimensional fast Fourier transform (FFT) algorithms
in its implementation. Besides, it allows to easily include the
amplitude constraints imposed by the feed in the reflectarray,
becoming then the phases the only variables to be optimized.
The method is applied first at central frequency, and the required
phase distribution on the reflectarray surface is obtained.
For the design of the reflectarray in a frequency band by compensating the phase delay as described in [5], the appropriate
phase delay distribution for the contoured beam is required not
only at central, but also at extreme frequencies. Assuming the
same variation with frequency of the required phase shift on the

Fig. 3. Required phase shift at central frequency (12.1 GHz) obtained by the
phase-only synthesis method.

reflectarray as that corresponding to a pencil beam, the phase

distribution is computed at any frequency from the one obtained at . This phase distribution is already a good approximation for the required pattern at frequency as demonstrated
in [6], and it is used as starting point for a new pattern synthesis
at extreme frequencies, as described in [11]. For each extreme
frequency, the intersection approach is applied in only one step
using the real illumination taper and limiting the maximum variation in phase to a small value (typically around 30 ). Since
the initial phase distribution is close to the final solution, the algorithm rapidly converges to a solution that fulfils the requirements. This process ensures a smooth variation of phase distribution with frequency, in the same range as the corresponding
to a pencil beam, which is important to facilitate the design of
the reflectarray patches.
The difference of phase delay at each extreme and central fre, where
quency is defined as
is the phase delay at element and frequency , the
the frequency at one band extreme.
central frequency, and
The differences of phase delay are computed for the extreme
frequencies, and the phase delay at other frequencies is obtained
by assuming a linear variation. For the reflectarray designed in
a frequency band as described in [5], only phase shift (limited
, and differences
to a 360 range) at central frequency
and
, are used.
at the band extremes,
The starting point for the first synthesis stage at central frequency (12.1 GHz) is the phase distribution corresponding to
a pencil beam with an edge illumination on the reflectarray of
42.7-dB respect to the center, obtained by modeling the feed as
a
, with
. After applying the intersection approach
in several stages increasing the edge illumination (decreasing
the factor), the phase distribution on the reflectarray surface is
reached for a 18.6-dB edge illumination, which corresponds
. The radiation patterns practo the specified horn with
tically fulfill the mask of requirements with very low sidelobes.
The resulting phase shift at central frequency (12.1 GHz), is
shown in Fig. 3. The phase is assumed constant in each cell,

2830

IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ANTENNAS AND PROPAGATION, VOL. 54, NO. 10, OCTOBER 2006

Fig. 4. Difference of phase delay at extreme frequencies for H-polarization. (a)

At 11.45 GHz. (b) At 12.75 GHz.

Fig. 5. Radiation patterns for H-polarization corresponding to the phase distribution of Figs. 3 and 4. (a) At 11.45 GHz. (b) At 12.75 GHz.

which is defined by the position (Nx, Ny) in the reflectarray.

After applying the pattern synthesis at 11.45 and 12.75 GHz,
the phase differences shown in Fig. 4 are obtained. The required
phase distributions at extreme frequencies are obtained by directly adding the phase differences of Fig. 4 and the phase-shift
at central frequency shown in Fig. 3. The radiation patterns corresponding to these phase distributions are shown in Fig. 5 and
practically fulfill the contour requirements.

distribution at 11.575 GHz corresponding to a pencil beam in

V-polarization, shown in Fig. 6. In this stage, a fixed relative
size of the stacked patches is maintained, and the dimensions
are adjusted in each cell to match the objective phase for each
polarization by using a zero finding routine that calls the analysis routine iteratively.
The analysis technique is a full-wave Method of Moments in
spectral domain [12], assuming each element in a periodic array
environment. The real angles of incidence at each element and
the polarization of the incident field, obtained from the position of the feed and the element, are taken into account for the
analysis of each element, assumed in an infinite array. Under
this local periodicity approach, the analysis method is used to
compute the amplitude and phase of the field components of the
reflected field at each reflectarray cell. The radiation pattern is
computed from these field components on the reflectarray. This
approach is very efficient and it is accurate when the variation in
patch dimensions is smooth from one cell to the next, because it

C. Reflectarray Design
Once the phase distribution is obtained, the design of the reflectarray consists of determining the dimensions of the patches
to achieve the phase-shift distribution. First, the design is carried
out independently for each polarization at central frequency. For
the dual-polarization dual-coverage reflectarray, the rectangular
patch dimensions are obtained by adjusting the -dimensions
to achieve the required phase shift at 12.1 GHz for H-polarization shown in Fig. 3, and the -dimensions to produce the phase

ENCINAR et al.: DUAL-POLARIZATION DUAL-COVERAGE REFLECTARRAY FOR SPACE APPLICATIONS

2831

TABLE II
MATERIALS AND LAY-UP OF THE REFLECTARRAY PANEL

Fig. 6. Required phase shift at central frequency (11.575 GHz) for

V-polarization.
TABLE III
DIELECTRIC PROPERTIES AND THICKNESS OF MATERIALS

Fig. 7. Configuration of reflectarray panel with electrical and stiffening layers.

(a) Lay-up. (b) Section of manufactured sandwich.

takes into account all mutual coupling between patches. All the
dielectric layers defined in the mechanical design, see Fig. 7 and
Tables II and III, are accurately modeled in the analysis routine.
To overcome the frequency-band limitation in reflectarrays,
the phase delay must be compensated on each element with
the phase of the reflection coefficient within a frequency band.
At each element, the phase of the reflection coefficient at cenand the difference of phases at extreme
tral frequency
frequencies , , and central frequency ,
,
are computed by the analysis routine for each polarization.Starting from
the patch dimensions obtained from the design at central frequency, the next design stage is performed element by element,
using an optimization routine based on FletcherPowell algorithm that adjusts all the dimensions of the stacked patches in element simultaneously to match both, objective phase
and phase delay differences
and
for
both polarizations. Note that for each polarization, objective
phase, difference in phase delay, position of the feed (and therefore angle of incidence) and phase of the reflection coefficient
are different. Then, it is more convenient to perform the optimization in the frequency band sequentially, first for one polarization and then for the other. For H-polarization, with the

electric field on the X-direction, the optimization is carried out

by minimizing the following error function:

(1)
where
and
are weighting coefficients and a superindex
to indicate each extreme frequency in the band. After the optimization, the -dimensions of all the patches on each layer are
obtained, then the process is repeated to adjust the -dimensions
by minimizing the error function

(2)
Note that for each polarization, the orthogonal dimensions of
the patches are maintained unchanged.
The process is repeated several times, alternating optimization of - and -dimensions, to take into account the slight influence of the orthogonal dimensions of the patches. After several alternating optimizations for - (Europe) and - (North
America) polarization, the final patch dimensions are obtained.
For V-polarization the reflectarray is designed in the frequency
band 11.0512.1 GHz, which is larger than the requirement.

2832

IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ANTENNAS AND PROPAGATION, VOL. 54, NO. 10, OCTOBER 2006

The radiation patterns computed by the analysis routine

for the resulting three-layer reflectarray practically fulfill
the coverage requirements in the whole frequency band
11.4512.75 GHz for H-polarization, but with a small reduction in gain (0.4 dB) produced by the dissipative losses. A slight
distortion of the contours is observed at extreme frequencies
due to small phase errors that remain after optimizations. The
radiation patterns are computed in gain, since the radiated
field is divided by the total power radiated by the feed. The
maximum gain including dissipative losses in the materials is
30.1 dBi at 11.45 GHz and 30.0 dBi at 12.75 GHz. Gain has
also been computed assuming lossless materials, and maximum
gain is increased in 0.4 dB, therefore, this is the estimated value
for dissipative losses in the reflectarray. For V-polarization, the
computed radiation patterns fulfill the gain requirements in the
whole designed band 11.0512.1 GHz including dissipative
losses, which are also evaluated as 0.4 dB.
III. MECHANICAL DESIGN MANUFACTURE AND TESTS
The reflectarray panel consists of three electrical layers: B,
C, and D in Fig. 7(a), which include copper patches printed
on Kapton foils with a Kevlar/resin stiffening layer on one side
only. Electrical layers are separated using Nomex honeycomb.
The electrical layers together with the ground plane (layer A)
form the electrical sandwich shown in Fig. 7(a). A backside
stiffening sandwich with carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP)
face-sheets is used to support the reflecting layers of the electrical sandwich, see Fig. 7. It was demonstrated that the conductive metal ground plane of the reflectarray can be substituted by
a CFRP face-sheet, with an increase of dissipative losses around
0.1 dB, which is a typical value in CFRP reflectors. Therefore,
layer A of the stiffening sandwich serves as a ground plane at
the same time. The materials and lay up of the reflectarray panel
are given in Table II.
A. Selection of Materials
The selection of materials to form the complete sandwich
panel is made according to two major requirements: to reduce
dissipative losses to the minimum, and to achieve a good
thermo-elastic stability of the sandwich.
Copper patches in the electrical layers produce high thermal
deformations due to their high coefficient of thermal expansion
(CTE) and Yongs modulus. To compensate these deformations,
a composite material with close to zero or even negative CTE is
required at each electrical layer. Kevlar 49 plane-weave fabric
with a negative CTE of the fibers was selected for the thermal
deformation compensation at electrical layer level. It was identified by electromagnetic simulations using the Method of Moments that dissipative losses are mainly produced by the loss
tangent of the Kevlar/resin layers. The lowest radio-frequency
(RF) loss factor compared to the other resin systems was found
in Cyanate Esters and is around 0.005. Cyanate Ester LTM 123
(from ACG Ltd.) was selected as the resin system for the sandwich manufacturing.
Based on previous considerations, a Kevlar fabric reinforced Cyanate Ester LTM123 composite is used to stiffen the
Kaptoncopper reflective layers against thermal loads. The honeycomb separators are bonded to the electrical layers by a thin
film of LTM 123 resin. For the backside sandwich of the panel
the same resin and T300 carbon-fiber fabric have been used.

Fig. 8. Reflectarray breadboard.

The electrical properties and the thickness of each dielectric

layer are given in Table III. Nominal values are considered for
Kapton and honeycomb layers. However, the dielectric constant
(DK), loss tangent (LT), and thickness of the Kevlar/TM123
layer, which are the most critical parameters in the electrical
design, have been measured. The resin used to bond the honeycomb to the electric layers is modeled for the electrical design
as a uniform film of 60- m thickness, computed from its weight
70 g/m , although in reality it is distributed in hexagonal
cells as the honeycomb. The data shown in Table III are used in
the electrical design.
B. Manufacture, Mechanical Design, and Analysis of the
Reflectarray Panel
The reflectarray panel has been manufactured by a multistep
curing process in order to achieve maximum accuracy and repeatability in the thickness and composition of each electrical
layer. The process is based on independent pre- and post-curing
of each layer, previous to bonding of the honeycomb separators
to the Kevlar face-sheets.
The breadboard is assembled by using a support structure,
which ensures an accurate positioning of the feedhorn and the
reflectarray panel. The same feed is used for measurements in Hand V-polarization by displacement of the arm and by changing
the adaptor used to fix the feed, see Fig. 8.
A parametric finite-element (FE) model of the reflectarray
sandwich panel was established using layered solid elements
with all layers of the reflectarray panel modeled as homogenous layers. Variation of all parameters have been performed for
studying the influence of each of them on the panel surface deviation RMS. The most important parameters are the core thickness of backside support sandwich, thickness of Kevlar/epoxy
layers, and fiber volume fraction. These parameters allow good
adjustment and tuning of the resulting RMS of the surfaces out
of plane deformations.
The thickness of copper patches influences very much the
RMS, and must be kept as low as possible. A thickness of
17 m has been chosen for the breadboard, because it was
the thinnest commercially available. Suppression of the patch
thermal deformations using Kevlar/resin plies at both sides
of the Kaptoncopper layer gives better results for surface
RMS. However, a design optimization, performed using an

ENCINAR et al.: DUAL-POLARIZATION DUAL-COVERAGE REFLECTARRAY FOR SPACE APPLICATIONS

2833

TABLE IV
EXPERIMENTAL AND SIMULATED RMS COMPARISON

TABLE V
MEASURED GAIN FOR V-POLARIZATION

evolutionary algorithm, has shown the advantages of the use of

the single Kevlar/resin ply. The option with one Kevlar/resin
layer on one side of the Kapton film is satisfying the RF
requirements having lower losses and less RMS within the
weight region less than 3 kg/m . Based on these results, the
sandwich configuration defined in Table II, with a backside
core thickness of 30 mm, is chosen for the reflectarray panel.
The established FE model with optimized parameters was
used to carry out reflectarray surface deviation RMS analyses.
As already mentioned, all layers of the laminate were considered as homogeneous layers including the layers of copper
patches. For the models effective material properties practically all values were experimentally measured. Two worst
thermal load cases for the calculations were defined with the
corresponding through thickness gradient. The results show that
the maximum RMS for the panel when exposed to the extreme
low temperatures (temperature difference of 230 ) is equal to
0.425 mm. It has been checked by electromagnetic simulations
that this RMS value does not produce any appreciable effect on
the radiation pattern of the reflectarray.
C. Experimental Thermo-Mechanical Verification
Measurement of thermo-elastic deformations were carried
out for the reflectarray panel at uniform temperatures. Surface
shape deviations were measured using photogrammetry with
measurement accuracy in the range of 20 m. An average of
maximum out of plane deformations and the RMS of surface
thermal deformations for both simulation and experiment are
calculated and show a good correlation, as shown in Table IV.
Experimental modal analysis and corresponding finite-element method (FEM) analysis show good agreement as well. The
calculated and measured values of eigenfrequencies are equal to
156 and 146 Hz, respectively, for the unconstrained reflectarray
panel.
IV. ELECTRICAL PERFORMANCES
Copolar and cross-polar radiation patterns and gain for both
polarizations have been measured in a planar near-field system.

Fig. 9. Measured copolar gain contour patterns for V-polarization at extreme

frequencies. (a) At 11.05 GHz. (b) At 12.1 GHz.

The measured patterns in gain are represented as contoured lines

and are superimposed to the mask with the requirements, in the
reflectarray coordinate system shown in Fig. 1.
A. Measured Patterns for V-Polarization
The measured copolar contour gain patterns at extreme frequencies are shown in Fig. 9 for V-polarization. The gain requirements of 37 dBi are fulfilled in the whole frequency band
from 11.05 to 12.1 GHz, which is wider than required. The
maximum gain measured at the coaxial input connector (SMA)
input, including all the losses, is given in Table V for several frequencies. Also, the maximum cross-polar radiation levels in dBi
(outside of the coverage region) are given in the table. The crosspolarization levels in the USA coverage are always lower than
3 dBi in the whole frequency band (11.0512.1 GHz), which
corresponds to a cross-polar isolation better than 34 dB. The
cross-polar patterns are shown in Fig. 10 for central frequency.
Note that the cross-polarization levels on the European coverage, where the interference with H-polarization will happen
5 dBi).
are very low (

2834

IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ANTENNAS AND PROPAGATION, VOL. 54, NO. 10, OCTOBER 2006

Fig. 10. Measured cross-polar patterns in dBi for V-polarization at central frequency (11.575 GHz).
TABLE VI
MEASURED GAIN FOR H-POLARIZATION

B. Measured Patterns for H-Polarization

Fig. 11 shows the measured co- and cross-polar contour
gain patterns for H-polarization at central frequency. The gain
patterns practically fulfill the mask of requirements in close
agreement with the simulated radiation patterns. The contour
of 28.5 dBi is however obtained with 28 dBi of gain in the 99%
of the enlarged coverage including satellite pointing errors.
Since the gain requirements of 28.5 dBi was achieved in whole
frequency band for the ideal phase distribution, the reduction
of 0.5 dB in gain is the result of dissipative losses (around
0.4 dB) and the small errors in phase after the optimizations of
the patch dimensions. This small reduction in gain was already
predicted in the theoretical radiation patterns obtained by
electromagnetic simulations, using the analysis routine based
on Method of Moments. The contour lines for three gain levels
(28, 25, and 20 dBi) at 12.1 GHz obtained from measurements
and simulations are compared in Fig. 12. Very good agreement
is observed between measured and simulated gain, except for
very slight deviations in the shape of the contoured pattern. The
small distortions in the measured patterns can be produced by
small variations in the thickness and composition (nonhomogeneity) of the Kevlar-resin layers, which are the more critical
factors. Fig. 13 shows the gain patterns at 11.7 and 13 GHz, and
Table VI shows the maximum values of gain and cross-polar
levels at different frequencies. The cross-polar levels are very
8 dBi) where the interference
low in the USA coverage (
with V-polarization occurs.

Fig. 11. Measured gain contour patterns for H-polarization at 12.1 GHz.
(a) Copolar pattern. (b) Cross-polar pattern.

The gain patterns practically fulfill the mask of requirements

from 11.7 to 13 GHz. However, a small shift in the frequency
band to higher frequencies is observed, because the breadboard
was designed in the 11.4512.75 GHz band. It must be noticed
that the frequency shift was observed only in H-polarization,
and the reason for that must be the anisotropy of the honeycomb produced by its hexagonal structure. It was reported that
DK is different for each polarization [13]: DK is higher along
the ribbon, with electric field in direction of L, see Fig. 14, and
lower across the ribbon, with electric field in the direction of
to DK
. Also, the
W, with typical values from DK
resin used for bonding to the honeycomb is distributed along the
hexagonal cells and will also exhibit a similar anisotropy. In the
breadboard, electric field is across the ribbon for H-polarization
and along the ribbon for V-polarization. Since honeycomb and
resin anisotropy was not considered in the design and DK
was assumed for both polarizations, the agreement is good for
V-polarization, while a frequency shift is produced in H-polarization as a result of the lower DK. In addition, the small error in
the DK for H-polarization can also be the reason for the small

ENCINAR et al.: DUAL-POLARIZATION DUAL-COVERAGE REFLECTARRAY FOR SPACE APPLICATIONS

2835

Fig. 12. Measured and simulated gain contours at central frequency.

deviations in the contour patterns, as a result of the nonlinear

behavior of the phase.
The radiation patterns were also measured at 12.1 GHz in the
whole angular range in a spherical near-field system, in order
to check possible spurious radiation out of the coverage region,
and to measure the directivity and dissipative losses. The losses
are obtained as the difference between measurements of gain
and directivity, and they are equal to 0.35 with an accuracy in
the measurements of 0.18 dB, which is in close agreement
with the predicted value of 0.4 dB. For other frequencies in the
band, the dissipative losses have not been measured, but they
must be in a similar value, since measured gain is maintained in
very similar levels and in close agreement with gain predictions.
Also for V-polarization, the measured gain coincides with theoretical predictions, and therefore the dissipative losses should
be similar. Fig. 15 shows the cuts of the co- and cross-polar radiation patterns at the different phi planes in the whole angular
,
). This figure shows that
range (
there are no spurious sidelobes out of the coverage region. The
maximum levels of cross polarization referred to the maximum
gain are also shown in the whole angular range, and are better
than 28 dB below the maximum.

Fig. 13. Measured copolar gain patterns for H-polarization at extreme frequencies. (a) At 11.7 GHz. (b) At 13.0 GHz.

V. COMPARISON WITH DUAL-GRIDDED REFLECTOR

AND CONCLUSION
A 1-m reflectarray made of three stacked layers of rectangular
patches has been designed for dual polarization with a different
coverage in each polarization. The patch dimensions have been
optimized to match the required phase shift for both polarizations in the required frequency bands. Appropriate mechanical
design and analysis of the reflectarray panel has allowed a significant reduction of dissipative losses to 0.35 dB. A breadboard
has been manufactured and tested, including thermoelastic characterization, and RF tests. The measured radiation patterns practically fulfill the requirements for both coverages.
The electrical performances of reflectarray breadboard have
been compared with those of the reference dual-gridded antenna. For the directive beam in V-polarization, the gain measured in the North American coverage is comparable with that

Fig. 14. Hexagonal configuration of honeycomb.

measured in the dual-gridded reflector. For the contoured beam

in H-polarization, the gain is slightly lower than for the dualgridded reflector and small distortions are observed in the contour pattern, produced by honeycomb anisotropy and manufacturing tolerances. The reflectarray breadboard has demonstrated
the capacity to achieve satisfactory cross polarization isolation,
with cross-polar isolation better than 30 dB in the other coverage. Therefore, the reflectarray antenna can be an alternative

2836

IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ANTENNAS AND PROPAGATION, VOL. 54, NO. 10, OCTOBER 2006

performances remain stable over a 10% frequency band. These

results show that the well-known bandwidth limitation in large
reflectarrays can be partially overcome by the proposed design
technique. The potential interest of the reflectarray technology
for dual polarization antennas in space applications has been
demonstrated.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors would like to thank G. Toso and C. Mangenot
from ESA-ESTEC, for providing valuable technical comments.
REFERENCES

Fig. 15. Measured radiation patterns at 12.1 GHz for different phi planes in the
whole angular range (0

90 , 0
' 360 ). (a) Copolar patterns.
(b) Cross-polar patterns.

 

 

to dual gridded reflectors, which are characterized by a very-low

cross polarization. The losses in the reflectarray (0.35 dB) are
slightly higher than in the dual gridded reflector (0.10 dB for
the front shell and 0.20 dB for the rear shell).
The total mass of the elliptical reflectarray panel, including
electrical and structural sandwiches, is 2.250 kg, i.e., 2.7 kg/m .
This value represents a significant reduction in mass with respect to the dual gridded antenna, with a mass of 4.3 kg/m for
the two-shell configuration, excluding attachments fittings and
the blades.
In conclusion, reflectarray RF performances are slightly inferior than those associated to a traditional dual gridded reflector
antenna. On the other hand, reflectarray technology allows significant reductions in volume, weight, cost, and manufacturing
time, mainly because the electrical requirements are met with a
single reflecting surface.
The reflectarray antenna has demonstrated its ability to
realize two linearly polarized independent beams, with a satisfactory cross-polarization level. For both polarizations, the

[1] D. M. Pozar, S. D. Targonski, and R. Pokuls, A shaped-beam microstrip patch reflectarray, IEEE Trans. Antennas Propag., vol. 47, no.
7, pp. 11671173, Jul. 1999.
[2] D. M. Pozar and T. A. Metzler, Analysis of a reflectarray antenna
using microstrip patches of variable size, Electron. Lett., vol. 29, no.
8, pp. 657658, Apr. 1993.
[3] J. A. Encinar, Printed Circuit Technology Multi-Layer Planar Reflector and Method for the Design Thereof, European Patent EP 1 120
856 A1, Jun. 1999.
[4] , Design of two-layer printed reflectarrays using patches of
variable size, IEEE Trans. Antennas Propag., vol. 49, no. 10, pp.
14031410, Oct. 2001.
[5] J. A. Encinar and J. A. Zornoza, Broadband design of three-layer
printed reflectarrays, IEEE Trans. Antennas Propag., vol. 51, no. 7,
pp. 16621664, Jul. 2003.
[6] , Three-layer printed reflectarrays for contoured beam space
applications, IEEE Trans. Antennas Propag., vol. 52, no. 5, pp.
11381148, May 2004.
[7] J. R. Profera and E. Charles, Reflectarray Antenna for Communication
Satellite Frequency Re-Use Applications, Patent US5543809, Aug.
1996.
[8] D. Pilz and W. Menzel, Printed millimeter-wave reflectarrays, Ann.
Telecommun., vol. 56, no. 12, pp. 5160, 2001.
[9] O. Bucci, G. Franceschetti, G. Mazzarella, and G. Panariello, Intersection approach to array pattern synthesis, Proc. Inst. Elec. Eng., vol.
137, no. 6, pt. H, pp. 349357, Dec. 1990.
[10] J. A. Zornoza and J. A. Encinar, Efficient phase-only synthesis of contoured beam patterns for very large reflectarrays, Int. J. RF and Microwave Computer-Aided Eng., pp. 415423, Sep. 2004.
[11] J. A. Zornoza, M. Arrebola, and J. A. Encinar, Multi-frequency pattern synthesis for contoured beam reflectarrays, in Proc. 26th Antenna
Workshop on Satellite Antenna Modeling and Design Tools, Noordwijk, The Netherlands, Nov. 2003, pp. 337342, ESTEC.
[12] C. Wan and J. A. Encinar, Efficient computation of generalized
scattering matrix for analyzing multilayered periodic structures,
IEEE Trans. Antennas Propag., vol. 43, pp. 12331242, Nov. 1995.
[13] F. C. Smith, Effective permittivity of dielectric honeycomb, Proc.
Inst. Elec. Eng.: Microw. Antennas Propag., vol. 146, no. 1, pp. 5559,
Feb. 1999.
Jos A. Encinar (S81M86) was born in Madrid,
Spain. He received the Electrical Engineer and
Ph.D. degrees, both from Universidad Politcnica de
Madrid (UPM), in 1979 and 1985, respectively.
Since January 1980, has been with the Applied
Electromagnetism and Microwaves Group at UPM,
as a Teaching and Research Assistant from 1980
to 1982, as an Assistant Professor from 1983 to
1986, and as Associate Professor from 1986 to
1991. From February to October of 1987, he was
with the Polytechnic University, Brooklyn, NY, as a
Postdoctoral Fellow of the NATO Science Program. Since 1991, he has been
a Professor of the Electromagnetism and Circuit Theory Department at UPM.
During 1996, he was with the Laboratory of Electromagnetics and Acoustics
at Ecole Polytechnique Fdrale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland,
as Visiting Professor. His research interests include numerical techniques for
the analysis of multilayer periodic structures, design of frequency selective
surfaces, printed arrays and reflectarrays. He has published more than one
hundred journal and conference papers, and is holder of three patents on array
and reflectarray antennas.
Prof. Encinar was a corecipient of the 2005 H. A. Wheeler Applications Prize
Paper Award given by IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society.

ENCINAR et al.: DUAL-POLARIZATION DUAL-COVERAGE REFLECTARRAY FOR SPACE APPLICATIONS

Leri Sh. Datashvili was born in Aspindza, Republic

of Georgia. He received both the Civil Engineer and
Ph.D. degrees, from Georgian Technical University
(GTU), Tbilisi, Georgia, in 1985 and 1997, respectively.
From January 1986 till April 2002, he has
been working at the Georgian Institute for Space
Constructions (GISC), Tbilisi, as Junior Research
Assistant, Research Assistant, Senior Research
Assistant, and Vice Director General, and Vice Chief
Designer. From 1987 to September 2001, he has
been at the Institute of Building and Special Constructions of GTU as an
Teaching Assistant, Lecturer, Assistant Professor. From June to October 1996,
he was at Daimler-Benz Aerospace Dornier Sattelitensisteme GmbH, Mechanical Systems department as a visiting scientist. From January to July 1999, has
was a Manager of the large deployable reflector (LDR) development project
for space orbital technical experiment reflector held by RSC Energia and
GISC on a MIR space station on 2328 July 1999. He is a coauthor of the
flown reflector fully developed and created in Georgia. From October 1999 to
June 2000, he has been ESA Consultant on LDRs. From October to December
2000German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) funded visiting scientist
at the Institute of Lightweight Structures of the Technical University of Munich
(LLB, TUM), Munich, Germany. Since April 2002, he has been a Research
Associate and Group Leader at LLB, TUM. His research areas of interest
include developments of LDRs for space applications, membrane structures,
high-precision structures, composite materials and structures, multilayer
sandwich structures, all with design, numerical analyses and experimental
investigations. He has published over 60 journal and conference papers and is
an author of 16 inventions.
In 1999 and 2001, respectively, Dr. Datashvili was awarded the Georgia State
Order of Vakhtang Gorgasalli III and the Georgia State Order of Honor for
achievements in his research.

J. Agustn Zornoza received both the Electrical

Engineering and Doctor Engineering degrees from
Universidad Politcnica de Madrid (UPM), Madrid,
Spain, in 1999 and 2004, respectively.
From 1998 to 2004, he worked at the Department
of Electromagnetism and Circuit Theory at UPM, initially as a collaborator and afterwards as researcher.
As part of his Ph.D. training, he spent six months
at Universit Federico II di Napoli, Naples, Italy, in
2001, visited the University of Queensland, Brisbane,
Australia, from August to December 2002, and enjoyed a three-month stay at the University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany, in 2003.
During that period, his research interest encompassed analysis and design techniques for multilayer printed antennas, numerical techniques applied to array
power pattern synthesis, multibeam and shaped-beam microstrip reflectarrays,
and analysis of finite arrays. In June 2004, he joined EADS Astrium Ltd., where
his current areas of interest include design and synthesis of reflectors antennas
for satellite telecommunications, both onboard and ground tracking systems.
Dr. Zornoza is the corecipient of the 2005 H. A. Wheeler Applications Prize
Paper Award given by the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society.

Manuel Arrebola was born in Lucena, Crdoba,

Spain, in 1978. He received the Ingeniero de Telecomunicacin degree from Universidad de Mlaga
(UMA), Mlaga, Spain, in 2002, and he is currently
working toward the Ph.D. degree at Universidad
Politcnica de Madrid (UPM), Madrid, Spain.
Since 2003, he has been with the Electromagnetism and Circuit Theory Department, UPM. From
August to December 2005, he was with the Microwave Techniques Department at Universitt Ulm,
Ulm, Germany. His current research interests include
multibeam and multifeed reflectarrays and reflectarrays for DBS applications.

2837

Manuel Sierra-Castaer (M01) was born in 1970

in Zaragoza (Spain). He received the degree of Engineer of Telecommunication in 1994 and the Ph.D.
degree in 2000, both from the Technical University
of Madrid (UPM), Madrid, Spain.
Since 1997, he has been in the University Alfonso
X as Teaching Assistant, and since 1998 at the Polytechnic University of Madrid as a Research Assistant, Assistant, and Associate Professor. His current
research interests are in planar antennas and antenna
measurement systems.

Jos Luis Besada-Sanmartn was born in Pontevedra, Spain, in 1949. He received the degree
of Engineer of Telecommunication in 1971 and
the Ph.D. degree in 1979, both from the Technical
University of Madrid (UPM), Madrid, Spain.
Since 1971, he has been with the Technical University of Madrid, and since 1987 has been a Full Professor in the Signals, Systems and Radio Communication Department of UPM. His current research interests are in reflector antennas design and manufacturing and antenna measurement systems.

Horst Baier graduated in mechanical engineering

and received the Ph.D. degree in 1977 from the
Technical University of Darmstadt (TU Darmstadt),
Darmstadt, Germany.
From 1972 to 1977, has was a Research Assistant at TU Darmstadt (working on methods,
composites, optimization). From 1977 to 1997,
he was with Dornier Satellitensysteme (Astrium
Friedrichshafen), later was Head of Structural
Mechanics and Technology, Chief Engineer Mechanical Systems, with involvement in different
space hardware projects and technology studies. He held a university teaching
position and honorary professorship at TU Darmstadt during 19811997
Since 1997, he has been a Professor and Head of the Institute of Lightweight
Structures at Aerospace Department of the Technical University of Munich. His
research activities include composite and precision (including smart) structures,
space structures and satellite reflectors, cryogenic structures, multidisciplinary
analysis, and optimization. He is an author of two books and has published
over 150 journal and conference papers.
Dr, Baier is a member of different national and international engineering science organizations.

Herv Legay was born in 1965. He received the electrical engineering degree and the Ph.D. degree from
the National Institute of Applied Sciences (INSA),
Rennes, France, in 1988 and 1991, respectively.
For two years, he was a Postdoctoral Fellow at
the University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada,
where he developed innovating planar antennas. He
joined Alcatel Space, Toulouse, France, in 1994. He
initially conducted studies in the areas of military
telecommunication advanced antennas and antenna
processing. He currently leads research projects in
integrated Front Ends and Reflectarray antennas and coordinates the collaborations with academic and research partners in the area of antennas. He is
member of the Alcatel Technical Academy.