INTRODUCTION

The use of reflecting surfaces in directional antenna systems is well known. Although a
parabolic surface has generally been assumed to produce greatest directivity, it has been found
that a highly effective directional system results from the use of two flat, conducting sheets
arranged to intersect at an angle, forming a corner. This type of arrangement, called a corner
reflector, is shown in cross section or end view in Figure 1a and in perspective in Figure 1b. The
driven dipole or antenna is usually located in the plane bisecting the corner and at a distance S
from it.

Figure 1. Corner Reflector Antenna: (a) cross section; (b) perspective

When the corner angle is 90 degrees, the reflecting sheets intersect at right angles,
forming a "square corner" reflector. Corner angles both greater and less than 90 degrees can be
used, the gain, in general, being greater for smaller corner angles. A 180-degree "corner" is
equivalent to a single flat sheet reflector and may be considered as a limiting case of the corner
reflector. A system of this kind is shown in Figure 2a. The ground is frequently considered to be
a flat-sheet reflector in a
ntenna problems. The application of a single flat-sheet reflector to
a directional antenna has shown that when the sheet is assumed to be a perfect conductor and
infinite in extent, a gain of about 7 decibels is obtained over a comparison free-space half wave
dipole having the same power input. This is with an antenna-to-sheet spacing of about 0.1
wavelength. Reflectors in the form of a common cylindrical parabola with the antenna placed at
the focus have often been used. A half-wave dipole antenna with parabolic reflector is shown in
cross section or end view in Figure 2b.

Figure 2: (a) Single flat-sheet reflector; (b) Parabolic reflector

A parabolic reflector antenna is a radio application of the analogous reflector system

familiar in optics. Rigorously, however, the analogy to optics holds only where the distance from
the vertex to the focus of the parabola is large compared to a wavelength. When the vertex-focus
distance is of the same order as the operating wavelength or less, as a quarter wavelength, the
analogy to optics is no longer complete since at these relatively small spacings, the antenna at the
focus and the reflector are coupled by mutual impedances, which are not negligible. The use of
flat, as contrasted to curved, reflecting surfaces has been suggested for shielding a receiving
antenna. Also a few wires disposed in planes approximating a parabolic contour have been used
as a reflector. However, it had not been shown previously that a corner reflector consisting of
two flat, conducting sheets, or their equivalent, constitutes a distinct type of reflector system,
capable of substantial gains and possessing many unique characteristics. It is the purpose of this
article to discuss the characteristics of the corner reflector, its advantages, limitations, and a few
applications.

ANALYSIS

Figure 4. (a) Typical directional pattern for square- corner reflector antenna; (b) Double
lobed pattern obtained when S is large.

In considering the performance of corner reflectors, a very simple approximate formula is sometimes of
value. This formula may be written:

Power Gain=4
where

( 300 )

= corner angle in degrees.

The gain is, of course referred to a single half-wave dipole in free space with the same power input.

A first approximation of the performance of the

antenna can be obtained analytically in a relatively
simple manner by assuming that the reflecting planes of a corner antenna are perfectly conducting and
infinite in extent such an assumption may appear to
be of theoretical significance only. Conversely, it is also
of practical value since measurements on corner reflectors
with over-all dimensions of only a few wavelengths
agree closely with the performance calculated
on the above assumption.
The method of images can be used if we assume perfectly conducting infinite planes. This method is
applicable
for corner angles equal to 180/n, where n is
any positive integer. This is a well-known fact in
electrostatics. In this method, corners of 180 degrees (flat sheet), 90,60, 45 degrees, etc., can be treated.
The
performance of corner reflectors of intermediate angles
can not be determined by this method but can be interpolated
approximately from the others.
For a 90-degree or square-corner reflector there are
three images, 2, 3, and 4, located as shown in Fig.
3(A). The dashed lines represent the corner, but in the

analysis the planes forming the corner must be extended

as indicated by the dotted lines. The currents
in the driven dipole (1) and its three images are equal
in magnitude. The currents in 1 and 4 are in-phase and
180 degrees out-of-phase with the currents in 2 and 3.
All elements are assumed to be 180 degrees in electrical
length. This four-element configuration is equivalent to
a special case of a spatial array which has been described.
To illustrate the method of analysis of the corner
reflectors, it will be given for the case of a 90-degree
or square-corner reflector. The method is similar to one described for the "flat-top beam" antenna, which
in turn follows one used by Brown.