Optically Controlled 2-Bit Reconfigurable Antenna in C-Band

An optically controlled 2-bit reconfigurable antenna is proposed in this work. According to photoconductivity theory, silicon can serve as switches controlled by external light sources. The proposed antenna is composed of a 1-bit radiation structure and a 90° miniaturized reflection-type phase shifter (RTPS). The former utilizes symmetric geometries and silicon switches to provide a stable 180° phase difference and a realized gain of 6.16 dBi at 5 GHz. The latter provides a 90° phase shift with less than 1.6 dB insertion loss. The photoconductive switches bypass the complicated bias lines and thus reduce the structure size and the associated negative effects. The proposed antenna can be used in phased array antennas for beam scanning and other applications.