Feasibility evaluations of three-dimensional-printed high-gain reflectarray antenna for W-band applications

Abstract

An evaluation reveals the feasibility of a high-gain and low-fabrication-cost reflectarray antenna for W-band millimeter-wave radar applications. This reflectarray antenna offers the advantage of a simple, flat structure, and can be fabricated at low cost by three-dimensional (3D) printing. This paper describes the fabrication of a 3D-printed reflectarray antenna, whose gain is more than 30 dBi in the W-band. Firstly, the reflection-signal phases of dielectric plates of different thicknesses are evaluated using finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) analysis to obtain the characteristics of the reflectarray design. Then, an eight-zone Fresnel reflectarray, in which a phase difference of 45° separated each zone, is analyzed and fabricated. The results of the FDTD analysis shows a 31.6 dBi antenna gain at 78.5 GHz. Finally, the designed reflectarray is fabricated using a 3D printer. Measurements indicate that the achieved 30.4 dBi antenna gain nearly equaled the FDTD analysis value of 31.6 dBi at 78.5 GHz.