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

YY, MONTH 2013 1

Reconfigurable Reflectarrays and Array Lenses for

Dynamic Antenna Beam Control: A Review
Sean Victor Hum, Senior Member, IEEE, and Julien Perruisseau-Carrier, Senior Member, IEEE

Abstract—Advances in reflectarrays and array lenses with gain antenna alternatives. Recently, researchers have become
electronic beam-forming capabilities are enabling a host of new interested in electronically tunable versions of reflectarrays
possibilities for these high-performance, low-cost antenna archi- and array lenses to realize reconfigurable beam-forming. By
arXiv:1308.4593v1 [physics.optics] 21 Aug 2013

tectures. This paper reviews enabling technologies and topologies

of reconfigurable reflectarray and array lens designs, and surveys making the scatterers in the aperture electronically tunable
a range of experimental implementations and achievements that through the introduction of discrete elements such as varactor
have been made in this area in recent years. The paper describes diodes, PIN diode switches, ferro-electric devices, and MEMS
the fundamental design approaches employed in realizing recon- switches within the scatterer, the surface as a whole can be
figurable designs, and explores advanced capabilities of these electronically shaped to adaptively synthesize a large range of
nascent architectures, such as multi-band operation, polarization
manipulation, frequency agility, and amplification. Finally, the antenna patterns. At high frequencies, tunable electromagnetic
paper concludes by discussing future challenges and possibilities materials such as ferro-electric films, liquid crystals, and even
for these antennas. new materials such as graphene can be used to as part of
Index Terms—Reconfigurable antennas, reflectarrays, reflector the construction of the reflectarray elements to achieve the
antennas, array lenses, transmitarrays, lens antennas, antenna ar- same effect. This has enabled reflectarrays and array lenses
rays, microstrip arrays, varactors, semiconductor diodes, micro- to become powerful beam-forming platforms in recent years
electro-mechanical systems (MEMS), beam steering. that combine the best features of aperture antennas and phased
arrays. They offer the simplicity and high-gain associated with
I. I NTRODUCTION their reflector / lens counterparts, while at the same time
providing fast, adaptive beam-forming capabilities of phased
T HE NEED for low-cost, reconfigurable antenna beam-
forming is widespread in many existing and next-
generation wireless and sensing systems. High-gain pencil-
arrays using a fraction of their hardware and associated cost.
They are also highly efficient, since there is no need for
beam or multi-beam synthesis is paramount to many systems transmission line feed networks as in the case of phased arrays.
including satellite communications, point-to-point terrestrial This paper reviews the development of reconfigurable reflec-
links, deep-space communication links, and radars. Traditional tarray (RRA) and reconfigurable array lens (RAL) technology.
aperture antennas such as reflectors and lenses provide a rela- While extensive and impressive advances in reflectarray and
tively low-cost and straightforward solution for achieving high array lens technology have been made over the past 50 years,
antenna gain. Their downside is that adaptive beam-steering this paper focuses on key experimental achievements that
is only possible through the use of mechanical scanning, have been made in the area of reconfigurable variations of
and adaptive beam-shaping is also similarly elusive unless these architectures, which have been primarily made in the
more sophisticated feeding systems are considered. On the past decade or so. Hence, its purpose is not to provide a
other hand, phased antenna arrays provide electronic flexibility review of the architectures specifically, but focus more on the
in exciting the elements, allowing for reconfiguration and mechanisms and innovation by which the architectures can be
scanning of the beam pattern in real time. The disadvantage realized in reconfigurable form.
of phased arrays, however, is their large hardware footprint, This paper is organized as follows. It begins by discussing
as each array element (or sub-array as the case may be) needs the basic operation of reflectarrays and array lenses and re-
to be connected to a dedicated transceiver module leading to viewing advances in the underlying architectures in Section II.
very high implementation cost. Phased arrays also diminish Then, the paper introduces the underlying technologies for en-
in efficiency at millimeter-wave frequencies due to the use of abling reconfigurability in Section III. Section IV presents ba-
transmission-line feeding networks which become increasingly sic concepts for introducing reconfigurability to reflectarrays,
lossy at high frequencies. focusing on single-band, single-polarization beam-scannable
Reflectarrays and array lenses are interesting hybrids be- reflectarrays. This discussion progresses to more advanced
tween aperture antennas and antenna arrays. They have been concepts presented in Section V, which presents implemen-
studied extensively in the past 20 years due to their attractive tations providing dual-band operation, dual-polarization capa-
qualities, namely their low-profile nature, ease of manufactur- bility, frequency agility, and other unique capabilities. Recon-
ing, low weight, good efficiency, and overall promise as high- figurable array lenses, and their close relation and similarity
in operating principles to the reflectarray, are discussed in
The authors are with the Edward S. Rogers Sr. Department of Elec- Section VI, The paper includes with a discussion of a number
trical and Computer Engineering, University of Toronto, Canada, and of future challenges to the field in Section VII, to inspire
the Adaptive Micro Nano Wave Systems Group, LEMA/Nanolab, École
Poltechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland, respectively. (email: readers about research that lies ahead. Finally, conclusions are
[email protected], [email protected]) drawn in Section VIII.
2 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ANTENNAS AND PROPAGATION, VOL. XX, NO. YY, MONTH 2013

II. R EFLECTARRAY AND A RRAY L ENS BACKGROUND AND elements must provide a large range of phases to accommodate
H ISTORY the geometry of the reflectarray, and the phases must be as
Reflectarrays and array lenses originally evolved as indepen- linear with frequency as possible, if good bandwidths are to be
dent architectures for approximating the behavior of reflector achieved. Additionally, the magnitude of the scattered wave is
and lens antennas, respectively. Here, the basic history and ideally the same as that of the incident wave. Steady research
operating principle of each architecture is described briefly. progress on reflectarrays has allowed design and analysis
techniques for the structures to mature significantly in recent
years [3]. Fast, fully vectorial analysis techniques enable one
A. Reflectarray Principles and Development
to predict attributes such as cross-polarization performance,
The reflectarray concept was first developed by Berry in the the effect of varying angles of incidence on the elements, and
1960s, and utilized short-circuited waveguide sections to com- so on.
pensate for the phase shifts needed to collimate waves from a Most reflectarray designs in the literature present a variety
feed antenna into a pencil beam [1]. Interest in reflectarrays of designs for fixed reflectarrays whereby the ∆φmn terms are
did not really begin in earnest, however, until planar antennas static. Linearly-polarized designs can be realized by varying
(namely, microstrip patch antennas) were popularized in the the shape and size of patch elements [4], slots [5], loops [6],
1990s, which is when most advances in reflectarrays began to and other element shapes [7]. Elements can also be coupled to
be made [2]. Hence, the discussions in this paper are most transmission line stubs of varying lengths to vary the scattered
concerned with a planar reflectarray, which is illustrated in phase [8]. In circularly-polarized (CP) designs, both of these
Figure 1(a). approaches can be utilized by acting on the scattered phase
of each polarization independently. There also exists a third
option for CP designs, whereby the element can be physically
rotated to directly manipulate the phase shift [9][10].
Many reflectarray elements capitalize on resonances in the
scatterer to achieve the large phase shift between the incident
and scattered waves. Hence, the effect tends to be narrowband
and much of the recent research on fixed-beam reflectarrays
has been devoted to realizing broadband, or multi-band, de-
signs. While a complete list would be too long to present here,
approaches to achieve wideband element designs tend to focus
(a) Reflectarray (b) Array lens
on either coupling multiple resonances together [11]–[13] or
coupling antenna elements to true time delay (TTD) lines [14].
Fig. 1. Spatially-fed array architectures Multi-band designs are also similarly achieved by stacking
multiple resonators together [15], or overlaying resonators on
A basic reflectarray collimates waves from a nearby feeding the same metal layer [16]. Most recently, the use of sub-
antenna into a pencil beam by applying a phase correction to wavelength elements has been identified as an effective means
the scattered field at each element on the reflectarray surface. for improving reflectarray bandwidth [17]. This essentially
For the case of a reflectarray with a feed whose phase center makes the reflectarray look more like an artificial impedance
is located at the origin O as shown, the phase of the scattered surface [18] whose localized reflection coefficient can be
field from the entire reflectarray must be constant in a plane controlled over a larger bandwidth [19][20]. As we will see
normal to the direction r̂0 of the desired beam so that, in Section IV, the impedance surface concept is not dissimilar
0
k0 (rmn ~ mn · r̂0 ) − ∆φmn = 2πN,
−R (1) from modern wideband implementations of reflectarrays.
0
where k0 is the wavenumber in free space, ~rmn
is the position
vector of the mnth element, R ~ mn is a position vector of the B. Array Lens Principles and Development
mnth element relative to (0, 0, f ), f is the focal length, ~r0 is Array lenses, also known as constrained lenses and trans-
the desired direction of the pencil beam and N = 0, 1, 2, . . . mitarrays, were first realized by controlling the delay of
A phase shift ∆φmn is introduced between the incident and an electromagnetic wave as it passed through a discrete
scattered field by the mnth reflectarray element. structure [21]. They attracted significantly more interest once
However, it is important to point out that reflectarrays can do planar antenna technologies were available, and waves could
more than synthesize pencil beams. They are popular options be coupled to delay lines connecting the input and output array
for contoured-beam synthesis as well as multi-feed systems, elements composing the array lens [22]. Microstrip elements
for which more advanced design methods must be pursued. were very popular for exploring early array lenses [23], though
Additionally, fast vectorial analysis techniques allow for the parallel efforts, while not strictly array lenses, were extensively
prediction of cross-polarization, the effect of varying the angle investigated in the context of spatial power combiners [24]. A
of incidence, and so on [3]. schematic of an array lens is shown in Figure 1(b).
Most of the design effort in reflectarrays has been in real- Similar to reflectarrays, the goal of an array lens is to
izing suitable fixed elements that synthesize the desired phase typically to collimate waves from a feed into a pencil beam on
shift as some part of the element’s geometry is varied. These the output side of the lens. Hence, the beam-forming equation
RECONFIGURABLE REFLECTARRAYS AND ARRAY LENSES FOR DYNAMIC ANTENNA BEAM CONTROL: A REVIEW 3

(1) is the same, except that the desired pencil beam appears by the increased demand for adaptability or multi-functionality
on the opposite side of the surface as the reflectarray shown in radar and communication systems. As a result emerging
in Figure 1(a). A key difference in the design of array lens technologies have been consolidated (e.g. MEMS) and exotic
elements is that in addition to exhibiting a large phase range solutions recently introduced, such as photo-conductive [32],
and low insertion loss, the element should produce low (ideally macro-mechanical [33], fluidic [34], and graphene-based [35]
zero) reflection from the input side of the element. Unlike reconfiguration techniques. Table I provides an overview of
reflectarrays, where the pencil beam can be potentially directed the main properties and suitability of the technologies. Other
in the specular direction to minimize reflection losses, power criteria such as power handling and required control voltage
is permanently lost to specular reflections in array lenses. also have to be considered in practice. It is important to
Originally, array lenses were conceived as the inter-coupling emphasize that different entries in the table are not always
of antenna elements on the input side of the lens to corre- independent and should be regarded as general qualitative
sponding elements on the output side of the lens, as shown assessment; in practice the definition of a specific application
in the inset of Figure 1(b). The simplest phasing mechanism and requirements for a specific RRA or RAL design would
of array lenses is a length of transmission line chosen for the allow a more accurate selection of the optimal technology.
required phase shift [23][25]. However, in principle any two-
TABLE I
port network can be used to provide the phase shift provided S ELECTED TECHNOLOGIES FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF RRA AND
it can be encapsulated within the array lens. RAL S AND QUALITATIVE ASSESSMENT OF A FEW RELATED PROPERTIES
The phasing network does not necessarily need to be a (‘+’ , ‘0’, AND ‘-’ SYMBOLS REFER TO GOOD , NEUTRAL , AND POOR ,
RESPECTIVELY ).
guided-wave transmission line circuit. The input and out-
put antenna elements can be coupled via other microwave

Integration (incl. biasing)

Bias power consumption

Loss (microwave / THz)
structures, such as slots, which can be patterned to provide

Maturity - reliability
a specific frequency response [26], including potentially the

Complexity (cost)
phase shift. Additionally, phase-shifting of circularly-polarized
radiation from the feed can be accomplished using element

D/A control

Linearity
rotation [27]. Furthermore, similar to reflectarrays, array lenses
can be composed of resonant scatterers that couple together to
impose the required phase shift on the incident wave [28][29]. Type Technology
p-i-n diodes + - D + -/- - 0
Essentially, the array lens becomes a nonuniform frequency Lumped
Varactor diodes + - A + -/- + -
elements
selective surface (FSS) when realized in this way, except that RF-MEMS 0 + D1 + +/0 + +
the local insertion phases of the elements become the primary Hybrid Ferro-electric 0 + A 0 0/- + 0
thin film
design objective, rather than the overall magnitude response Liquid crystal 0 0 A 0 -/+ 0 0
(filtering effect) of a fully periodic FSS [30]. Tunable Graphene - + A 0 -/+ + -
Examining (1), it can be readily seen that the phase shift materials Photo-conductive 0 - A? 0 -/- - -
∆φmn could be adaptively controlled in order to provide Fluidic 0 - A 0 0/+ + 0
dynamic beam-forming or beam-synthesis capabilities from 1 While analog MEMS is possible, digital MEMS devices have been proven
reflectarrays and array lenses alike. This potential capability to be more reliable / repeatable.
in reflectarrays was identified early on in their develop-
ment [31] as a significant advantage. In the next section, The solutions in Table I are classified according to whether
tunable technologies that enable this reconfigurable phase shift the control is made using variable lumped element to be
are presented, and the subsequent sections will provide specific embedded in the array unit cell, or via the distributed control
details on how a wide variety of adaptive beam-forming of some material property. Most designs so far use lumped
platforms can be realized from these technologies. elements, and in particular semiconductors elements such as
p-i-n and varactor diodes [36][37]. This is mainly due to the
III. E NABLING R ECONFIGURATION T ECHNOLOGIES maturity and availability of off-the-shelf components, but also
There are various enabling technologies for the dynamic to the fact that this technology does not require advanced
control of electromagnetic waves in RRAs and RALs, which fabrication facilities or expertise. To overcome the well-known
differ significantly in terms of maturity, availability, perfor- limitations of such technologies, RF-MEMS technology was
mance, or other characteristics such as integration and biasing employed [38]–[40], the most prominent properties of which
complexity, or the suitability to a given frequency range. being very low loss up to mm-wave frequencies, virtually
Therefore it is crucial to select the best technology for a given zero power consumption, high linearity, and possibility of
implementation and set of requirements. Though a detailed monolithic integration. One limitation of MEMS technology
review on reconfiguration technologies is beyond the scope for RRAs and RALs is that analog control generally does not
of this paper, it is important here to overview the main provide sufficient reliability or temperature stability, and thus
solutions available to the antenna designer and highlight their two-state digital elements are used, similar to the use of p-i-n
key properties regarding RRA and RAL implementations. diodes in semiconductor technology. This implies increased
There has been significant progress in the development and unit cell and biasing network complexity. Ferroelectric thin-
application of reconfiguration technology platforms for anten- films have also being used to implement RRAs [41]. This
nas and other microwave devices in recent years, mainly driven technology has the advantage of providing analog control in
4 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ANTENNAS AND PROPAGATION, VOL. XX, NO. YY, MONTH 2013

a monolithic fabrication process and using very low power. IV. BASIC R ECONFIGURABLE R EFLECTARRAY
However, losses quite higher than those achievable with A PPROACHES
MEMS. There are three general approaches employed in the design
The DC biasing network is a particularly acute issue in of basic reconfigurable reflectarrays, which are summarized in
RRA and RALs, since in general each cell of the array must Figures 2(a)-(c). Here, we define a basic reflectarray design as
be controlled independently, potentially resulting in thousands one operating at a single frequency on a single polarization;
of control lines. Technologies offering a maximum of 1 bit more advanced designs will be considered in Section V. The
control per lumped element such as p-i-n diode and most RF- majority of reflectarray designs in this category manipulate
MEMS technologies will result in a larger number of biasing the phase of the scattered field from the elements by changing
commands, resulting in a tradeoff between performance and characteristics of a resonator composing the elements. One of
complexity when selecting the elementary phase resolution. many possible approaches is shown in Figure 2(a), whereby
This issue is related to the well-known phase quantization a tunable capacitor is integrated with the resonator. Hence,
effects in antenna arrays [42]: phase errors made at each if an electronically tunable phase shift is desired, a tuning
element due to the finite number of available phase states mechanism can be incorporated into the resonators to make
result in reduced gain and rising side lobe levels. For this this possible. It is also possible to evoke a phase shift from the
reason, in large arrays it might be interesting to consider phase element by transitioning received space-waves by the element
resolution of reflective elements as low as 1-bit [43]–[45]. In to guided-waves, phase-shifting the wave using a guided-wave
any case, the biasing network has to be carefully designed circuit such as a transmission line stub, and then re-radiating
not to affect the device and scattering performance. In this the resulting wave. This approach is shown in Figure 2(b).
regard, it is important to note that advanced MEMS processes Hence, to make the phase shift dynamic electronic phase-
readily include highly resistive layers allowing realizing very shifting circuits can potentially be employed in the guided-
high impedance bias line transparent to the EM waves, which wave portion of the element, resulting in an antenna / phase-
is extremely convenient for the biasing network design. shifter / antenna signal flow. Finally, for CP waves, electronic
means for element rotation can be considered to produce the
Though MEMS is becoming a mature technology and necessary phase shifts, as shown in Figure 2(c). Each of these
can provide excellent properties up to V or W band, new three techniques are elaborated upon in more detail in the
technologies are still needed to address the growing interest following sections.
in mm-wave and THz frequencies for communication and
sensing. This issue is especially relevant for RRAs and RALs,
whose space-feeding is essential for reducing loss in feeding
of the array element as frequency increases. In this context
recently liquid crystal (LC) technology has been considered
for sub-millimeter-wave frequencies [46]. It has been proposed
to address upper terahertz or even infrared frequencies using RIEL AND LAURIN: DESIGN OF AN ELECTRONICALLY BEAM SCANNING REFLECTARRAY 1261

graphene [35][47]. Interestingly, these emerging technologies on the nonradiating side of the reflectarray has been proposed in
[12]. The proposed element receives a linearly polarized wave,
amplifies it with a field-effect transistor, adjusts its phase using a
allow simple biasing via a single electrode per cell since the determined length of transmission line and retransmits the wave
(a) Tunable
in the orthogonal polarization. Using this element, the authors of(b) Guided- (c) Element rotation
material properties are controlled in an analog fashion. [12] realized two fixed-beam X-band amplifying reflectarrays,
resonator
where one of them was used as a spatial power combiner. wave 1822 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ANTENNAS AND P
The authors have recently proposed a novel tunable reflec-
tarray element that consists of a resonant microstrip patch aper-
ture-coupled to a transmission line loaded with two varactor The geometry of a single el
Another important aspect when comparing lumped element diodes [13]. The measured results of this element demonstrated
a full phase tuning range of more than 360 and improved loss
in Fig. 1(b). This element con
and eight inductive radial stu
and tunable material technologies for the design of RRA performances compared to previously reported elements having
continuous phase tuning. Using a similar element, a complete
and the outer radii of the ring
The angle between any two ad
beam scanning reflectarray has been developed. Its scanning
the width of the radial stubs a
or RAL cells concerns modelling and design. In particular, performances as well as a loss analysis are presented in this
paper. The breadboard used for experimental demonstration in- p-i-n diodes
cluded only 30 elements in order to minimize complexity and parallel to the inductive radi
the design of a lumped elements based cell can be carried cost, at the detriment of aperture efficiency. This number of ele-
ments is however sufficient to observe the beam scanning func-
switching of these diodes is
tation of the reflectarray elem
of the diodes with angular po
out representing it by a multi-port scattering matrix where tionality.
verse-biased to ensure their h
the other six diodes are forwar
the effect of the lumped elements is included via circuit- II. DESIGN AND CHARACTERIZATION OF THE TUNABLE
ELEMENT
states for these diodes.
The axis is defined as
The aperture-coupled tunable element is shown in Fig. 1. The with the diodes in the high-i
based post-processing. This not only allows a single full-wave patch, with dimensions of 19.5 mm 15.2 mm, was printed on
a 25- thick polyimide membrane with a relative dielectric
Fig. 1. Reflectarray element (a) side view, not to scale (b) bottom view (dc bias
circuits not shown).
a certain moment in time, di
impedance state and the axis
simulation of the cell for obtaining all the different states of (d) Varactor-tuned resonator [52] (e) Tuned stub [53] (f) Spiraphase [54]
constant of 3.4. The microstrip lines and the ground plane with Fig. 1. (a) Spiraphase-type reflectarray based on ring slot resonators with
switchable radial stubs. (b) Geometry of a single element.
and . In this case, the linea
the slot were printed on both sides of a 0.5-mm thick Duroid polarization plane parallel to t
5880 substrate (with relative dielectric constant of 2.2). The slot Ideally, the diode and the line segment implementing siderable electromagnetic fiel
the cell [48], but also allows for other interesting analyses dimensions are 15.4 mm 0.76 mm and the lines have a 50-
Fig. 2.
should be lossless. To achieve a 360Forvariation
Reconfigurable reflectarray approaches and corresponding examples
impedance. The patch is separated from the ground plane and of , a 180 phase variation musthave
more than
been considered
be obtained
three
on the
for . Also,
decades, spiraphase-type elements [4]
phase
promising
a spatial phase shifters for circu-
tion, the other six stubs are sh
low-impedance state. Thus, f
slot by a 3-mm thick Rohacell 71 foam with a relative dielec- 180 phase difference between larly and polarized
must be phased
maintained,array applications. Nevertheless, when
such as the average or maximum voltage induced on each tric constant of 1.11. The three substrates were bonded together
using two 25- thick adhesive films.
which is done by making
. The proposed element is designed
the concept
a quarter wavelength
the classic
waslonger
initially
spiraphase
for a linearly
thanpresented, the particular properties of
element based on half-wave dipoles were
polarized
larization, the reflectarray is e
surface (FSS) based on ring slo
perimeter of the ring slot appr
element [49] or some computation related to the sensitivity of In the configuration of Fig. 1, the total impedance of the
transmission line seen by the slot is the series combination of
incident E-field perpendicular to the
A design frequency
criticized
of 5.4 GHz
slot axis.for its poor transformation of the switch impedances
as well was useditsfor
as for the sake
reduced frequency band [17]. Later, spiraphase-
, the FSS is transparent to th
placed at a distance from
and . By varying the reverse bias voltage applied si- of demonstration. An Aeroflex-Metelics MGV-100-20
type arrays based onhyper-thin conductor radiators [18], [19], mi- reflected by the array with a
the cell response to faults in the lumped control devices [50]. multaneously on the two diodes, the impedance terminating
the lines varies, thus creating a phase variation in the reflection
abrupt varactor diode was used, with
varying from 1.7 to 0.27 pF whendifferent
a total
crostrip capacitance
radiators
variesangular
of different configurations [20], ring slots with
from 0positions
to 20 V. of metal shorts [21], and ring slot mately equal to one.

However it is worth noting here that accurate results require A. Tunable Resonator Approach
coefficient . Using a
simplified model with only one Floquet mode, it can be shown
With this diode, the measured varied over a 186 phase range
resonators with switchable radial stubs [22] were proposed. In
with a maximum loss of 1.1 dB [13]. To measure the reflec-
On the other hand, the linea
polarization plane orthogonal
a recent paper [23], it was experimentally proven that the ele- cant electromagnetic field in s
that when the aperture-coupled antenna is perfectly matched, tion performances of the element, it was placed at the end of a
ment described in [22] provides the optimal transformation of itance of the diodes and
rigorous correction of parasitics related to the introduction of While fixed reflectarrays modify the resonator dimensions to
the microstrip lines are lossless and radiation leakage from the
slot can be neglected, the phase variation of the reflection co-
square waveguide of dimensions
guide was excited by a
, and the wave-
the switch impedances for minimizing dissipative loss.
wave. This setup is equivalent to
In thisperiodic
paper,arraywe with
prove the suitability of an optimized
the inductance of the outer me
efficient is the same having a plane wave incident on an infinite nant circuit. Thus, at the serie
the lumped port in the full-wave simulator [48][51]. Obvi- change their resonant frequency, and hence phase shift, recon-
as the phase variation of the reflection coefficient affecting
the plane wave incident on the patch. This fact has been vali-
incidence angle spiraphase-type
in the H-plane, where
the wavelength in free space. At 5.4switchable
element isbased on a ring slot resonator with
radial stubs in-
GHz, the corresponding for circularly polarized reconfigurable
wave of this polarization is re
tion coefficient approxima
dated as follows. Firstly, a full-wave simulation of an infinite millimeter-wave
cidence angle is 50.3 . In the simulations reflectarray
of the element, the applications. Therefore, this reflectarray
ously, this separate computation of cell response and control figurable elements achieve this using electronic tuning. Elec-
periodic array of the cell loaded with diodes was done to obtain
as a function of . Then, was calculated by consid-
same setup was used so that both the Specially
ments of its reflection coefficient on
simulationsdeveloped
and measure-
infinite periodic
correspond to a plane
methods of numerical simulation based
andwave
finite array approaches were used to an-
tion coefficients and fo
with polarization planes parall
alyze the reconfigurable
of the element,reflectarray. Initially, the infinite ap-
elements is virtually impossible for technologies relying on tronic means for changing the resonant frequency of patches
ering the series combination of two 50- transmission lines, of
lengths and , respectively, each of them terminated by the
with . In fact, the passive
placed on one end of the waveguide,
structure
proach was applied
was simulated to optimize the reflectarray element based
with Ansoft
respectively. Now, if one assu
cularly polarized plane wave (
bias-dependent impedance whose characteristics were ob- HFSS using a 3-port network includingon p-i-n
one diode
port forswitches at 36.5 GHz and to estimate the possible
the incident
the negative -direction, the e
the distributed control of some material property, which thus have been known for a long time, for example, through the
tained from measurements. The phase and magnitude of
were then compared to those of . The results showed that the
and reflected waves and two scanning
other portssector
nations on the microstrip line, oneproach
on each was
with 50-
then
side
of thetermi-
of used
reconfigurable reflectarray. The finite ap-
to predict
the slot in the radiation characteristics for
wave can be expressed as foll
phase variations of and follow each other very closely. the planes of and shown in Fig.
the 1(b). The resultsreflectarray.
reconfigurable of these
require full-wave solutions for each material state and provide use of frequency-agile patches employing varactor diodes [55],
II. PRINCIPLE OF OPERATION where is the complex magn
fewer possibilities for advanced optimization methods. and hence the first electronically tunable reflectarray element A reflectarray with spiraphase-type elements is shown in
and
are the unit vectors in the
is the free-space wave
Fig. 1(a). This reflectarray contains multiple ring slot res-
onators with switchable radial stubs arranged at the nodes According to [17], the ele
of a rectangular grid with periodicity and along the - wave can be expressed as a su
and -directions, respectively. The reflectarray elements are the positive -direction
printed on a substrate with relative dielectric permittivity of
and dielectric thickness of . These elements are situated at a
distance over a metal screen. A feed horn is used to illuminate
the reflectarray and each element is configured to introduce a
required phase shift to redirect the reflected wave. where is the angle between
RECONFIGURABLE REFLECTARRAYS AND ARRAY LENSES FOR DYNAMIC ANTENNA BEAM CONTROL: A REVIEW 5

was based on this frequency-agile patch design [56]. However, the scattering behavior of the element. Figure 3(a) shows the
it is important to properly couple the choice of the tuning equivalent circuit for the mushroom-style AMC which realizes
element to the size of the patch in order to achieve the large a parallel LC circuit because of the intrinsic inductance of the
phase ranges achievable with comparable fixed elements, and patch/via combination and the fringing capacitance between
this early design only achieved about 180◦ of phase range. patches. A generalized AMC composed of, for example,
More phase range was achieved from this varactor-loaded floating patches can be thought of has being capacitive if
patch concept by contemplating different loading schemes the elements are sub-wavelength. This leads to the equivalent
for the patch [52][57] and coupling the varactor to patches circuit shown in Figure 3(b) which illustrates the equivalent
of appropriate size [58]. It is also possible to use micro- capacitance of the cell placed an electrical distance βh in front
electrical-mechanical systems (MEMS) varactors for the same of a short-circuit, representing the ground plane on the rear
purpose [39]. Figure 2(d) shows an example of integrating of the surface. The substrate, being illuminated by a TEM
varactor diodes into the structure of a patch antenna to achieve wave, acts as a transmission line, which is a typical concept
phase agility. from frequency selective surfaces [66]. Finally, Figure 3(c)
Essentially, these techniques can be thought of as changing shows a possible equivalent circuit of a reflectarray element,
the effective electrical length of the resonator. Hence, a wide which differs from that shown in (b) because the elements
variety of techniques have been contemplated to implement in a traditional reflectarray are typically comparable to a
reflectarray elements based on this concept. Switches in the wavelength. Therefore, owing to the distributed nature of the
form of PIN diodes and micro-electrical-mechanical systems scatterer, more sophisticated circuits are needed to represent
(MEMS) have been integrated with patches to control the the reactance block X shown in the figure [57], or even other
current path and corresponding resonator length [40][59][60]. circuit models entirely [36][67].
Such methods depend on modelling techniques that allow for
the analysis of the effect of tunable lumped element devices
on the large scale electrical scattering characteristics of the
device [48][61]. In addition to using lumped element devices
to effect changes in resonator lengths, more exotic techniques
have also been contemplated, such as photo-induced plasmas
(a) AMC (b) AIS (c) Reflectarray
for changing the length of slots coupled to reflectarray ele-
ments [32]. Fig. 3. Equivalent circuits of reflectarray unit cells
The resonant frequency of a simple patch element also
can be manipulated in a distributed fashion by varying the Impedance surfaces can be easily adapted to have a tunable
dielectric constant of the substrate, which is the operating reflection phase. For example, the capacitance between the
principle of reflectarray elements using dielectrics with tunable patches (which appears in Figures 3(a) and (b)) can be made
properties such as liquid crystals [46][62][63]. Ferro-electric adjustable by placing a tunable capacitor such as a varactor
films have also been employed for in semi-distributed ele- diode across the gaps. Tunable impedance surfaces have been
ments [64][65]. demonstrated for use as plane-wave re-direction surfaces [68]
Reflectarrays share many traits in common with artificial though the bias network can theoretically be reconfigured
impedance surfaces (AISs). Since reflectarray elements allow for such surfaces to work as tunable reflectarrays. While
the phase of the scattered field to be manipulated arbitrarily, the downside of this approach is that many more tunable
setting the phase shift to be uniform across the surface changes components are needed due to the sub-wavelength size of
its electrical characteristics from that of a plain conductor. For the unit cell, the reduced unit cell size also provides for
example, if the phase shift it set to 0◦ , then the reflectarray improved bandwidth characteristics [17] leading to potentially
surface resembles the well-known artificial magnetic conduc- broadband reflectarray performance. Bandwidth-related issues
tor [18], even though structurally the reflectarray element may for tunable reflectarrays are discussed in more detail in Sec-
be quite different from a mushroom structure. In fact, the tion VII.
main differences between a reflectarray and an AIS are: i) the
dimensions of reflectarray elements are usually spaced around
half a wavelength whereas in AISs the spacings tend to be B. Guided-Wave Approach
smaller; ii) the dispersion characteristics of reflectarray cells Rather than controlling the resonance of a scatterer as
are not usually engineered to suppress surface waves; and discussed so far, it is also possible to control the phase
iii) the local phase of the reflectarray unit cells is varied in shift by a guided-wave approach, as symbolically depicted
accordance with the beam to be synthesized, while AISs are in Figure 2(b). In this case the incoming space-wave is first
fully periodic. coupled by an antenna to a guided-wave. The guided-wave is
Equivalent circuit modelling of reflectarray unit cells also then phase shifted, and is finally re-radiated, resulting in an
closely parallels those developed for AISs. Each cell of a antenna–phase-shifter–antenna topology. This technique was
reflectarray element can be see as a scatterer placed within first applied to fixed-beam antennas, and then extended to
a periodic (Floquet) waveguide [3]. At a specific angle of RRAs by using dynamically controllable phase shifters as
incidence, an equivalent circuit can be synthesized for the discussed in the remainder of the section. The guided-wave
cell and the input reflection coefficient Γ used to describe approach presents both advantages and disadvantages when
6 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ANTENNAS AND PROPAGATION, VOL. XX, NO. YY, MONTH 2013

compared to the tunable resonator technique. First, unit cells

of the former type are generally easier to optimize. Indeed,
while the modelling complexity of both approaches is quite
similar (if the approach described in Section IV-A is used
when addressing tunable resonator cells), the fact that the
antenna and phase shifter can be optimized separately in the
guided-wave approach results in simpler design procedure.
For instance, in a digital design it is quite straightforward
to achieve equi-spaced phase states in the guided-wave phase
shifter, whereas doing so with a tunable resonator can require
complex optimization which might still lead to sub-optimal
phase distributions [48]. Another advantage of this technique
is that wideband behavior is more easily obtained since simple
guided-wave phase shifters can be designed to provide true-
Fig. 4. Illustration of the guided-wave approach to RRA phase control:
time delay capability. Further comments on bandwidth of patches elements are aperture coupled to a 1-bit delay line embedding a
reflectarrays are provided in Section VII-A. p-i-n diode. Two antenna elements share the same phase shifter for reducing
Though not strictly required, most reconfigurable guided- complexity [69].
wave cells are implemented in multi-layer configurations [37],
which will generally increase fabrication complexity and ther-
mal issues. However, in some applications it might be desirable was initially applied to the reflectarray and the associated op-
to have the tuning element shielded from the antenna aperture. eration principle and derivations are well-known [9]. Here we
Several RRAs or unit cells have been developed based summarize a slightly more general formulation for RRAs [74]
on the guided-wave approach, a few notable examples of (the case of the lens array is available elsewhere [27]).
which are briefly described here. A design using antennas Let us consider a general unit cell such that the unit cell is
aperture-coupled to delay lines embedding two varactor diodes rotated an angle ψ as depicted in Figure 2(c). Assume a right-
allowed achieving a continuous tuning over a 360◦ range with hand-polarized feed hence an incident right-hand CP wave
maximum loss of 2.4 dB at 5.4 GHz [53]. Other authors travelling towards the cell,
proposed, as previously done in usual phased array antennas, ~ inc = A(âx + jây )ejk0 z .
E (2)
to arrange reflectarray cells into sub-arrays to reduce the
number of control elements [69]. Gathering of the elements by It can easily be shown that the reflected field can be written
pairs was implemented in a full array demonstrator of 122 sub- in the general form
arrays, demonstrating the possibility of cost and complexity
saving without significant reduction in the performance of ~ ref = Γco A(âx − jây )ejk0 z + Γxp A(âx + jây )ejk0 z (3)
E
the antenna. Note that a similar ‘gathering’ approach could
also be used in the tunable-resonator approach, such as done with
 
previously in a Fabry-Perot antenna [70]. j2ψ 1 0 0 0
Γco = Γco (ψ = 0)e = (s − s22 ) + js12 e+j2ψ ,
A large ‘guided-wave’ RRA having more than 25,000 re- 2 11
flecting elements was fabricated for millimeter-wave imaging (4)
system operating in the 60-GHz band [37]. To manage the and
1 0
complexity of this system, the unit cell for this RRA consists Γxp = (s + s022 ), (5)
of microstrip patch directly connected to a 1-bit reflective 2 11
transmission line embedding a p-i-n diode. MEMS technology where where Γco and Γxp are the co-polar and cross-polar CP
has also been also considered here, and a fully-operational reflection coefficients, and the primed scattering parameters
monolithic MEMS RRA at 26 GHz was designed and fabri- correspond to the fundamental Floquet harmonics of x0 - and
cated [71], while cells using surface mount MEMS elements y 0 -polarized waves in the primed coordinate of Figure 2(c).
were also implemented [72]. In both cases thermal losses were Note that even for a cell whose pattern is symmetrical around
several dB despite the use of MEMS technology, which is y 0 such as in Figure 2(c), s012 is not in fact zero since a
below the performance that can be achieved using MEMS periodic arrangement of such cells along x and y is itself not
technology and the tunable resonator approach [40]. Intuitively symmetrical around y 0 .
this results from the fact that in the guided-wave approach all The principle of operation and requirements for the cells are
incoming power is flowing through the tuning circuitry (i.e. the now easily deduced from (2)–(5). First, in order to suppress the
phase shifter), while the tunable resonator approach is a more reflected cross-polarized field one must ensure that |Γxp | ≈ 0,
distributed control mechanism where part of the scatterer is which according to (5) requires the phase of the linear-
subjected to low induced currents and lower losses result. polarized reflection coefficients along x0 and y 0 axis to differ
by about 180◦ (assuming similar losses along both axes). In
C. Rotation Technique for Circularly-Polarized Waves practice this is achieved by making the element resonate along
A clever alternative to the above methods, though restricted y at the design frequency, while being weakly excited by a x-
to CP, is that of the ‘rotation technique’ [73]. This principle oriented incident electric field. Once this condition is met, (3)
RECONFIGURABLE REFLECTARRAYS AND ARRAY LENSES FOR DYNAMIC ANTENNA BEAM CONTROL: A REVIEW 7

and (4) show that the phase of the desired reflected circular- instance a shared aperture for widely-spaced transmit / receive
polarized wave is simply twice the angular orientation ψ of frequencies, and dual-polarization as needed in many radar and
the element on the surface. This is the essence of the rotation satcom applications. Additionally, flexible frequency or polar-
technique: the reflected phase of the CP wave co-polarized ization can be provided for cognitive radio applications [76].
wave can be simply controlled by rotating the elementary In this context it is fundamental to remark that the RRA
resonator along the reflector. (and to a certain extend the RAL as well) concept is inherently
As in the case of the previous methods, the rotation tech- favorable to multi-reconfiguration when compared to standard
nique has been implemented in fixed configurations [9][27], phased arrays. This is because the implementation of more
but has also been proposed for dynamic phase control. In advanced control of the aperture surface comes with reduced
this latter case the independent rotation of each element added complexity when compared to that needed in phased
must obviously be implemented by electrical means. This was array. For instance, polarization or frequency flexibility in a
proposed as early as the 1970’s by integrating diodes in a phased array would generally also require the implementation
rotation-invariant geometry [73], so that selectively actuating of reconfigurable matching networks, adding significant com-
some of the lumped elements implements the ‘electromagnetic plexity, loss, and power consumption. Such an issue does not
rotation’ of the element. An example is illustrated in Fig- exist in RRAs since there is no need to match the elementary
ure 5(a), where the rotation of a dipole is implemented [38] by cell, which by definition reflects all non-dissipated incoming
switching the desired pairs of branches (slots [10] and metal energy. As a result various advanced RRA capabilities have
split rings [74] have also been used). Figure 5(b) shows a been proposed recently. So far these studies essentially focused
full array implementation of the concept. However, to the best on demonstrating the capability at unit cell level, and are
of our knowledge, no operational full reflectarray with actual briefly commented on the remainder of this section.
dynamic beam-scanning has been implemented so far, with the
above examples demonstrating so-called ‘frozen’ MEMS array
A. Dual-polarization Cells
implementation for complexity reasons. The use of a micro-
motor for implementing the rotation has also been proposed Reflectarray cells utilizing two polarizations with indepen-
and implemented in a unit cell [75], but not a full array dent control of the phase of each LP component, which
configuration. would allow independently scanning two LP beams have been
experimentally demonstrated [77],[78]. The principle of such
cells is illustrated in Figure 6(a) and (b), where a microstrip
ring resonator is loaded by two varactor diodes pairs ‘A’ and
‘B’ [77]. In the case of the y-polarized incident field compo-
nent, the varactors ‘B’ have no effect on the reflection phase
because they are located in zeros of the current distribution,
by symmetry, whereas the elements ‘A’ allow the control of
the reflection phase for this polarization. In the case of the x
component, the control elements ‘A’ are now in zeros of the
current distribution and the reflection phase is controlled by
‘B’.
The element of Figure 6(a) is of the ‘tunable resonator
approach’ type described in Section IV-A. However as in
Fig. 5. Reflectarray using the element rotation technique for beam-scanning the case of the single-LP cell, the dual-LP element can
for CP [38]. (a) Example of elementary cell, (b) Array implementation using also be implemented using the ‘guided-wave approach’ of
frozen MEMS states.
Section IV-B [79] [80]. In that case perfect symmetry is
difficult to achieve but cross-polarization can still be made
very low. In fact, the element in [80] is more robust than
V. A DVANCED C ONCEPTS IN R ECONFIGURABLE the initial demonstration of [77] in terms of response under
R EFLECTARRAYS oblique incidence.
The research on reconfigurable RRAs logically first focused More recently the implementation of a reflectarray allowing
on the control of a single linearly-polarized (LP) beam. the independent control of two CP beams of opposite polar-
These activities confirmed that the reflectarray approach is ization but the same frequency [81]. Since such a capability
an advantageous solution in electronically-controlled antenna cannot be achieved via a single-layer reflectarray, here a multi-
arrays, and motivates considering more advanced capabilities layer structure must be adopted, as shown in Figure 7. The top
in terms of operating frequency and polarization. Specifically, layer must be transparent to one polarization, while reflecting
the idea here is to maintain dynamic local phase control for the other with the desired phase. The bottom layer can then
beam-scanning/shaping, while simultaneously achieving one be simply implemented as any single-CP reflectarray. This
or several additional capabilities in terms of dual-polarization, interesting concept has not been demonstrated experimentally
polarization flexibility, multi-frequency, or frequency-tunable yet in a true reconfigurable mode at the time of publication,
operation. Such advanced operation modes would even fur- but its implementation will come with similar possibilities and
ther the interest in reconfigurable reflectarrays, providing for issues as other reflectarrays, with the additional constraint of
8 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ANTENNAS AND PROPAGATION, VOL. XX, NO. YY, MONTH 2013

90◦ phase shift step needed for conversion from LP to CP. A

final important note is that high variation in the losses of the
cell for different phases will strongly impact on the quality
of the polarization control, hence effort must be focused on
achieving similar loss in the different cell states [80].

C. Dual-band Cells
Multi-band reflectarrays have been proposed in the past in
fixed configurations. In general such reflectarrays are designed
(a) Varactor- (b) Cell reflection phase along x axis when
by implementing an ensemble of reflecting cells for each
controlled unit cell varying the voltages of both pairs of diodes desired frequency, that are then arranged in a single or over
for the independently ‘A’ and ‘B’, demonstrating the independent multiple layers depending on the application requirement,
beam-scanning of two polarization control
single-LP
in particular on the relative spacing between the desired
frequencies. However, multi-band operation in beam-scanning
Fig. 6. Polarization reconfiguration reflectarrays has only been recently considered. A first proof-
of-concept of such an operation mode was recently provided
considering CP for both frequencies [74], as depicted in
having as many as three layers all requiring embedded control
Figure 8. This was based on the element rotation technique
elements.
described in Section IV-C, using MEMS to electronically
implement the required rotation at each cell while preserving
low loss at the operating frequencies 24 GHz and 35 GHz.
Measured radiation patterns of frozen full array prototypes are
also shown in the figure.

Fig. 7. Principle of the dual-CP reflectarray concept of [81]

Several applications do require dual-polarization but only

with a beam common to both LP components. For instance
this is the case of a line-of-sight communication between
a reflectarray and a moving terminal, where the two LP
components can be used as two different communication
channels (so-called frequency-reuse). Such elements logically
also provide an alternative to the elementary rotation principle
for single-CP reflectarrays discussed in Section IV-C.

B. Polarization-flexible cells
The possibility to dynamically control the polarization of the
beam synthesized by a reflectarray is another very interesting Fig. 8. Principle of a reflectarray for independent beam-scanning of two CP
beams at different frequencies in the millimeter wave range [74]. (a) scanning
prospect for cognitive radio applications, among others. In is achieved by independently rotating slip-ring elements corresponding to each
fact, cells allowing the independent control of two linear frequency using MEMS switches (b) measured switched-beams on frozen
polarizations such as presented in the previous section allows prototypes at the two operation frequencies.
achieving such a capability as well.
Consider the unit cell of Figure 6(a) and a single LP incident
field oriented such that E ~ i = E0 (êx + êy )ejk0 z . The reflected D. Frequency-agile Reflectarray Elements
field is E~ r = (ρx E0 êx + ρy E0 êy )e−jk0 z , where ρx and ρy It is well known the performance of reflectarrays in terms of
are the reflection coefficients of the cell along the x and y bandwidth is limited, and techniques for wideband operation
axes, respectively. Since, as explained in Section V.A, the cell are more difficult to implement in beam-scanning cells than in
allows to independently control Γx and Γy , it is possible to fixed array. In this context, achieving the bandwidths required
independently control both the polarization and the phase of for some applications might be very challenging. An example
E~ r . This principle can be used when there is at least a 2- is satellite broadcasting, with downlink / uplink bands of 10.7–
bit resolution for each component, since this corresponds to a 12.75 GHz / 14.0–14.5 GHz at Ku band.
RECONFIGURABLE REFLECTARRAYS AND ARRAY LENSES FOR DYNAMIC ANTENNA BEAM CONTROL: A REVIEW 9

Though the bandwidth constraint cannot be overcome by lenses, except that the output is collimated to be collected by
frequency tuning if a very large instantaneous bandwidth the feed horn on the output side of the lens.
is required, frequency reconfiguration is a viable option for In a reflectarray, the active device is engineered into the
selectively receiving / transmitting, or for frequency-hopping unit cell such that the reflection coefficient from the unit cell
systems and cognitive radio. For such a design to be useful, is greater than unity. There are two ways to achieve this, as
obviously the tuning frequency range must be much wider illustrated in Figure 10. In a co-polarized reflectarray, the input
than the bandwidth achievable with a single-frequency design, and output polarizations are the same, necessitating the use of
depending on the requirements and implementation. In this a reflection-mode amplifier (RMA). Achieving stability in such
context a reflectarray cell able to dynamically control the designs is extremely challenging, since the stability condition
reflection phase at a variable frequency was recently presented is
in [82]. As shown in the measured results of Figure 9, it |ΓA (ω)GA (ω)| ≤ 1 (6)
achieves a continuous tuning range of more than 270◦ of phase
range for any desired frequency within a range larger than where ΓA is the input reflection coefficient of the antenna
1:1.5. The principle of operation of the cell is also symboli- composing the reflectarray unit cell, and GA is the gain of the
cally explained in Figure 9. The reconfigurable cell combines reflection-mode amplifier. This condition must be met over
two switches and a varactor to tune the cell frequency response the entire operating frequency range of the amplifier, which
in a coarse and fine manner, respectively. As a result, the can be very challenging. A more common approach is to
cell can adjust the reflection phase at a variable operating utilize a cross-polarized reflectarray design where the input
frequency over large and continuous phase-frequency ranges. and output polarizations are orthogonal, which employs a two-
The length of the cell sections are designed so the spacing port dual-polarization antenna as the reflectarray element. This
between the resonances of the four switch configuration is affords some isolation between the input and isolation, and the
uniform and identical to the maximum frequency shift induced stability condition can be approximated as [84]
by the varactor. |GA (ω)S12 (ω)| ≤ 1 (7)

On Off On Off where GA is the gain of a two-port amplifier connecting the

input and output ports of the antenna, and S12 is the coupling
arg(SYY) On On Off Off between the two ports. This condition is much easier to meet
[deg]
and has been exploited in the design of fixed-pattern active
180º
reflectarrays [85][86].
PIN diode
90º

Varactor
analog phase control
0º for beam-scanning
PIN diode
frequency tuning range
-90º

-180º (a) Co-polarized (b) Cross-polarized

1.75 2.0 2.25 2.5 2.75 3.0 3.25 3.5
Freq. [GHz]
coarse tuning (switching) Fig. 10. Active reflectarray unit cell types
fine tuning (reactive loading)

Fig. 9. Measured reflection phase of frequency-reconfigurable reflectarray

A natural extension to these designs is to incorporate recon-
cell in a RWG simulator and operation principle [82]. figurability into the beam pattern. The use of active devices
compensates some of the loss that might be incurred by the
tuning mechanism while at the same time increasing the gain
of the system and providing power combining capabilities for
E. Active Reflectarrays transmitters. Though this area is still growing, there have been
several cross-polarized designs employing two-port phase-
Recently, there has been significant interest in integrating
shifters in cascade with amplifiers connecting the two polariza-
active devices in the form of amplifiers with antenna ar-
tion ports of patch antennas. Experimental results employing
rays for a variety of reasons, such as increasing the overall
phase shifters based on IQ modulators [87] and reflection-
gain of the antenna, compensating for losses, and in the
mode phase shifters [84] have been recently presented. Active
case of transmitters, power-combining for high EIRPs. At
array lens designs have also been proposed [88], though
high frequencies, especially in the millimeter-wave frequency
presently beam-forming is achieved by employing multiple
range, transistor sizes become very small necessitating the
feeds.
use of power-combining networks to achieve high output
powers from power amplifiers. Losses in transmission line-
based power combining networks become pronounced in this VI. A R ELATED A RCHITECTURE : T HE A RRAY L ENS
frequency range, which spurred considerable interest in spatial As discussed in Section II-B, the array lens topology is a
power combiners (SPCs) in the 1990s and 2000s [83][24]. variant of a spatially-fed antenna array whereby one side of the
Essentially, spatial power combiners operate similar to array array is illuminated by the feed and the radiation is produced
10 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ANTENNAS AND PROPAGATION, VOL. XX, NO. YY, MONTH 2013

on the opposite side. Reconfigurable versions of this topology ments are desired, because it simplifies the biasing control
have several advantages over their reflectarray equivalents. of the array lens immensely. In this case, resonators gen-
First, array lens designs are free from feed blockage effects, erally need to be separated by a significant electrical dis-
which may be a consideration in small apertures. Also, in tance (e.g. one quarter-wavelength) in order for the resonators
addition to far-field beam-forming, array lenses also have to produce the required phase range while maintaining an
the capacity to form focal points in the vicinity of the lens acceptable reflection coefficient seen looking into the unit
aperture which can be useful in applications requiring adaptive cell [93]–[96]. However, the increased electrical distance not
focusing, such as microwave hyperthermia. only increases the physical thickness of the lens, it also
As is the case with electronically tunable reflectarrays, introduces an inter-layer coupling mechanism which has been
reconfigurable array lens designs can be grouped into similar shown to potentially lead to spurious radiation in undesired
categories according to the mechanism by which phase shifting directions [95].
is achieved by the unit cell. Each of these approaches is The other option is to use an arrangement of dissimilar res-
described in more detail in the following sections. onators in order to alleviate the need to separate the resonators
1) Tunable Scatterer Approach: As described earlier, a key by a large distance. For example, tunable patch resonators can
difference between the unit cells in reflectarrays and array be coupled to a capacitively-tuned slot resonator to effectively
lenses is that in an array lens, the phase of the wave must realized a triple-pole response using a very thin structure [90].
be manipulated with a minimum of reflection and insertion Theoretically, achieving thin tunable array lenses is possible
loss, whereas in reflectarrays a strong reflection is generally by closely coupling together capacitive and inductive surfaces
guaranteed because of the use of a ground plane. Intrinsic to to form a tunable FSS [89], but would require tunable capaci-
this process is also the fact that the wave interacts with the tances on the capacitive surface (straightforward to implement)
scatterer twice during its transit from the feed to the aperture and tunable inductors (more challenging to implement) on the
plane, meaning that a single-pole resonator is all that is inductive surface to achieve best overall performance. The
required to produce nearly 360◦ of phase shift in a reflectarray. main disadvantage of an approach using dissimilar layers the
This contrasts significantly with the situation in an array lens. layers need to be tuned separately each other in order to
Resonators the incoming wave interacts with can be seen as form the right pole trajectories to maximize the phase range
introducing a single pole response into the transfer function while minimizing the insertion loss through the unit cell. This
modelling the input/output characteristic of a unit cell, as is can complicate the biasing and control of such surfaces, and
well known in the field of frequency selective surfaces. Hence, combined with the need for thin array lenses, has motivated
multi-pole designs have been widely employed to tailor the research on the next approach.
response of FSSs using resonators of different types [26], or 2) Guided-Wave Approach: In this approach, the array
by coupling layers of inductive and capacitive elements [89], to elements composing the input of the array lens are connected
achieve a desired magnitude response for filtering applications. to the array elements composing the output of the array
However, the adaptation of resonators to tunable surfaces has lens via a two-port guided-wave network. In reconfigurable
several important implications on the design of RAL unit cells. designs, this network must be electronically tunable, and, as
Considering the pole/zero behavior in the complex plane we have seen in Section V-E, can potentially incorporate gain
is highly useful in understanding the design of array lens as well.
elements based on tunable resonators [90]. Assuming a res- Only a handful of reconfigurable array lenses of this type
onator pole can be arbitrarily manipulated, the insertion loss have been experimentally demonstrated. Borrowing the ter-
and phase are dictated by the distance from, and the angle minology of SPCs, a “tray” approach can be taken whereby
made with, the pole to the operating frequency point in the phase-shifting circuits are integrated with the input and output
complex frequency plane, respectively. At a fixed operating faces of the lens in a three-dimensional manner [97], with the
frequency, in order for the insertion magnitude of the unit cell primary drawback being a thick structure that is more difficult
to remain constant, the pole must be manipulated such that it to manufacture. Other approaches tend towards “tile” forms of
moves in a circular arc in the left-hand plane around the center integration, employing designs that use varactor diode-tuned
frequency. Achieving such an ideal trajectory is impossible in bridged-T phase shifters [95][98] or MEMS switches to adjust
most designs. Furthermore, this discussion illustrates that a the delay through a bandpass structure [99].
single pole is capable of contributing, at most, up to 180◦ While research on tunable array lenses is still in its infancy,
of phase shift in the transfer function. Early tunable array the potentially thin nature and bandwidth of the guided-wave
lens designs employing only a single-pole response hence approach makes it an attractive topology. Figure 11 shows a
achieved very low phase ranges [91]. Hence a minimum of recent example of an experimental prototype exhibiting a 10%
two, and preferably three or more, resonators are required to fractional bandwidth at 5 GHz.
meet the phase requirements of beam-forming. As a result, 3) Element Rotation Approach: Reconfigurable array lenses
even fixed array designs tend to require multi-layer structures for handling CP waves are still at an early developmental stage.
of resonators [29], unless one settles for 1-bit (0◦ / 180◦ ) Fixed CP array lenses have been explored that incur the phase
phase-shifting which can simplify the cell somewhat [92]. shift by manipulating the LP components of a CP wave [27]
In a similar way, in RALs, designs achieving the required or by employing the element rotation technique [100]–[102].
levels of phase agility have been accomplished using different However, to our knowledge, array lenses employing this
types of resonators. In many cases, identical resonator ele- approach have yet to be realized in reconfigurable form.
RECONFIGURABLE REFLECTARRAYS AND ARRAY LENSES FOR DYNAMIC ANTENNA BEAM CONTROL: A REVIEW 11

The desired TTD behavior can be easily achieved using

the guided-wave approach. Fixed designs employing aperture-
coupled microstrip delay lines [105] have been shown to
substantially improve the bandwidth of reflectarrays to the
10% range. As discussed earlier, this approach can be adapted
to provide beam-steering [106]. However, since the amount
of time delay that can be created within the space constraints
of the cell is limited, and the bandwidth of such element is
Fig. 11. Experimental array lens [95] also conditional to the wideband matching of the resonating
element with the phase shifter.
For array lenses, the bandwidth similarly depends on their
VII. O NGOING AND F UTURE C HALLENGES implementation. Classical array lenses were based on transmis-
sion lines connecting the input and output elements. However,
A. Bandwidth extension and transformation optics approaches array lenses based on resonant FSS structures have smaller
A well-known limitation of reflectarrays and array lenses is bandwidths, though this situation has been alleviated through
their limited operating bandwidth, and this is currently a very the use of miniaturized element FSSs (MEFSSs) [89].
active area of research. Bandwidth limitations fundamentally Similar to reflectarrays, wideband RALs must employ either
originate from the fact that in order to achieve ideal band- wideband phase shifters coupled to wideband elements, or re-
width characteristics, the array elements must produce a true configurable TTD structures. As wideband element and phase
time delay (TTD) response. Most reflectarray and array lens shifter designs are widespread in the literature, ultimately
elements can only approximate such a response over a narrow the bandwidth limitations stem from issues arising in the
bandwidth. Addressing this limitation for RRAs and RALs is compact integration of the elements with the phase shifters
particularly challenging, for reasons that are outlined below. in the former approach [95]. Regarding the latter approach,
In the case of reflectarrays, bandwidth constraints are usu- again, switched structures, which trade off bit resolution for
ally alleviated by employing one of two approaches. The bandwidth, attempt to implement TTD structures for enhanced
first is to increase the phase bandwidth of the elements by bandwidth [99].
attempting to approximate the TTD response over a limited Ways to further improve the bandwidth of spatially-fed
band. This can be achieved by employing multi-resonant ele- apertures is an area of active research, with particularly
ments, such as stacked patches [12] and concentric loops [13] promising solutions arising from the field of transformation
to name a few popular techniques. These approaches have optics (TO) [107]. In the synthesis of wideband apertures using
been applied with success in fixed reflectarrays, improving a TO approach, the desired field transformation (e.g. from
bandwidth from around 3% in the case of single-resonant el- a spherical feed to a plane-wave pencil-beam) is defined
ements to around 12% in the case of multi-resonant elements. spatially in one spatial domain, and the metric-invariant prop-
The challenge with adapting this to reconfigurable designs is erty of Maxwell’s equations can be employed to achieve
that these element designs employed coupled resonators to the same wave propagation in another spatial domain filled
improve the bandwidth of the element. By varying the size with a region of inhomogeneous dielectrics. In the case of
and shape of the individual resonators, one not only changes reflectarrays, this region is a cover that is placed over a flat
the resonant frequency of each constituent resonator, but also reflector (ground plane) composing the reflector, while in array
the inter-resonator coupling. In electronically tunable variants, lenses, the region defines the lens itself. Conceptually, the
the resonator frequency can be readily controlled through case in Figure 12 illustrates the transformation between the
integration with tunable components, as we have seen in warped space (virtual space) and the regular space (physical
Section IV-A, but the inter-resonator electromagnetic coupling space) succinctly. Essentially, the material cover implements
is not affected significantly by the tuning because the geometry a spatially-distributed TTD system to ensure all rays from
of the resonator remains fixed. Hence, more sophisticated the feed are delayed appropriately by the aperture. Moreover,
tuning techniques, that also employing tunable devices to since the transformation does not yield large zones of materials
vary the inter-resonator coupling, are required to improve the exhibiting unusual electromagnetic properties (e.g. a refractive
bandwidth of multi-resonant element designs [103]. Using this index less than 1), the dispersion associated with such materi-
technique, the element phase bandwidth can be effectively als is avoided yielding a potentially very broadband transfor-
multiplied by the number of resonators employed in the unit mation device. This approach has been used to successfully
cell. design flat reflectors [108] and lenses [109][110] in principle.
Resonators composing the element can also be designed to Researchers have contemplated beam-steerable
be co-planar, which tends to reduce the coupling effect and versions [111] provided the electromagnetic properties
allow the individual resonances of each element to play a of the dielectric region can be manipulated. Effective material
larger role in controlling the bandwidth. Unit cells composed implementations based on metallic conductors have recently
of three parallel dipole resonators situated over a tunable liquid been investigated as a means for realizing the dielectric
crystal substrate have been proposed [104] and experimentally region, while providing reflectors with very large potential
verified [46] as a means for extending the bandwidth of LC beam-scanning ranges [112]. A similar implementation
cells to 8%. can be pursued for array lenses. Such conductors can be
12 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ANTENNAS AND PROPAGATION, VOL. XX, NO. YY, MONTH 2013

C. Very large apertures realized using compound apertures

focal point focal point
Realizing very large, high-gain apertures composed of re-
configurable unit cells, while theoretically possible, poses
many practical constraints in terms of the number of devices
required (and associated cost), bias network complexities, and
T in some cases, device power requirements. However, many
TO reflector
PEC
high-gain cost-effective solutions can be realized by combin-
ing adaptive spatially-fed arrays with fixed apertures. The most
common of these is a parabolic or flat main reflector (which
(a) Virtual space (b) Physical space itself could be realized as a fixed reflectarray) illuminated
Fig. 12. Transformation between virtual (a) and physical spaces (b) in the by a sub-reflector composed of a reflectarray. Such dual-
TO approach reflector combinations can be used to emulate their traditional
counterparts, such as the Cassegrain antennas [114] and offset
reflectors [115]. In particular, employing a reconfigurable sub-
loaded with tunable components to yield ultra-wideband
reflectarray (or array lens) is an effective way to manage
implementations of spatially-fed apertures, which may benefit
the cost of the antenna system, since the primary large-area
many applications in the future. A disadvantage of this
aperture is not reconfigurable. The tradeoff is that the overall
approach is that the dielectric region tends to be quite thick in
scanning range of the antenna system is reduced, often to just
order to facilitate the field transformation, creating interesting
a few degrees depending on the system geometry. However,
challenges for future research.
many applications do not require large scan ranges, such
as atmospheric limb-sounding, certain satellite applications,
B. Mitigating Nonlinear Behavior
etc. Liquid-crystal reflectarrays have successfully been inte-
A major challenge facing designers of electronically tunable grated as sub-reflectors into dual-reflector systems for such
reflectarrays and array lenses is the linearity of the underlying purposes [116], and extensions of this technique to other
tuning technology. Table I summarizes the technologies and configurations may be a practical way forward in realizing
shows their corresponding linearity. RRAs and RALs are very high gain reconfigurable apertures in the future.
being proposed for satellite and RADAR applications, which
employ transmitters with very high output powers. Hence, the
illumination of the aperture may induce nonlinear behaviour D. Towards Terahertz and Optical Frequencies
in the underlying technologies, leading to harmonic and inter- The application of the reflectarray and lens-array concepts to
modulation distortion (IMD). In the area of communication higher frequencies has recently attracted significant attention.
systems, particularly satellite communications, there are strict For instance, at optical frequencies fixed configurations have
limitations on the allowable adjacent channel interference and been proposed using metals in the plasmonic regime [117]–
harmonic levels produced by the transmitter. Even passive [120] and lower-loss dielectric scatterers [121]. Though higher
inter-modulation is a source of compliance failure in these operation frequencies obviously entail significant novel prac-
transmitters, indicating that ultra-linear tuning technologies tical considerations, the operating principle is essentially the
must be employed should reconfigurable apertures find prac- same as in prior art at lower frequencies.
tical use in these applications. Dynamic beam control is now also considered at higher
Semiconductor technologies, while mature and widespread, frequencies. Potential applications at terahertz frequencies are
are the most prone to this problem. Varactor diodes inte- numerous both for sensing and communication, where the
grated in the aperture, for example, can easily have their reflectarray and lens-array concept should provide a low-loss
capacitance modulated at the frequency of the illuminating and relatively simple solution for electronic beam control.
signal, causing phase modulation that manifests itself in terms At optical frequencies, applications mostly relate to sensing
of distortion of the scattered signal. For example, the IMD but flexible free-space interconnects or even visible light
performance of a single-pole reflectarray element has been communication could be of interest in the future.
evaluated in a waveguide simulator [36], illustrating that even Early attempts to beam-scanning at particularly high fre-
under modest illumination power levels, the creation of odd- quencies include the on-going effort to produce a MEMS-
order distortion is significant for varactor diode-tuned elements based reflectarray at 120 GHz [122]. However, such frequen-
which ultimately may relegate such apertures to receive-only cies can be considered as an upper bound for the applicability
applications. Researchers are keenly aware of this and efforts of standard RF-MEMS technology, among others, because the
to document the linearity of new designs is undertaken in most MEMS elements become too electrical large to efficiently be
recent studies [92]. integrated within the array unit cell. Therefore, it is particularly
Nevertheless, addressing this challenge remains a funda- relevant to consider enabling technologies based on reconfig-
mental concern for designers. Ultimately, MEMS technology urable materials. For instance, there have been experimental
may be the solution to this problem [39][113]. Other exotic demonstrations of reflectarray unit cells using LC crystals,
materials possessing large relaxation times, such as liquid based on the principle that the LC anisotropic permittivity
crystals, may also be contenders as the underlying technologies tensor is modified by an applied bias field [46]. Though this
mature. demonstration was done at sub-millimeter-wave frequencies,
RECONFIGURABLE REFLECTARRAYS AND ARRAY LENSES FOR DYNAMIC ANTENNA BEAM CONTROL: A REVIEW 13

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