Physics

Beam steering

Antenna measurement

Antenna factor

Beam waveguide antenna

Optics

Reconfigurable antenna

Beam (structure)

Antenna (radio)

Materials science

Omnidirectional antenna

Computer science

Directional antenna

Telecommunications

Coaxial antenna

IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters

A beam-steering antenna with low radar cross section (RCS) based on a reconfigurable phase gradient metasurface (PGM) is proposed in this letter. The PGM loaded with p-i-n diodes is designed as a tunable radome to steer the beam, improve the gain, and reduce RCS of the antenna in a wide operation band of 4.2-4.55 GHz. The beam directions of 0°, ±7°, ±15°, and ±23° (at 4.4 GHz) can be switched. Moreover, the PGM focuses the beam of the antenna and scatters the electromagnetic wave incident to the antenna. Thus, the gain can be increased by 3 dB approximately, and the RCS of the antenna is effectively reduced simultaneously. A prototype of the antenna is manufactured and measured. Simulated and measured results have a good agreement, which verifies the performances of the antenna with the active PGM.

Low-RCS Beam-Steering Antenna Based on Reconfigurable Phase Gradient Metasurface