Wideband Reconfigurable Reflectarray based on Reflector-backed Second-order Bandpass Frequency Selective Surface

In this communication, a wideband reconfigurable reflectarray based on reflector-backed active second-order bandpass frequency selective surface (FSS) is presented. The reflector is composed of periodic short-circuited parallel plate waveguide (PPW) and the FSS is composed of stacked non-resonant metallic elements separated by thin dielectric substrates. By integrating microwave varactors in the capacitive layers of FSS, more than 270 o continuous phase tunability is achieved within a factional bandwidth of 14%. A one-dimensional reflectarray prototype operating at C band is fabricated and measured. The experimental results show that it can achieve ±55 o beam scanning coverage. Symmetric beam steering is observed due to the center-fed configuration. With advantages of low cost and simple structure, the proposed reflectarray can be potentially used in wideband wireless communication and radar systems.