Effect of Phase Errors on Performance of Ka-band Reflectarray with DRA Unit Cells

This paper focuses on the impact of phase errors in 1-bit unit cells on the directional properties of a reflectarray antenna. The simulations were conducted for reflectarray antennas using unit cells with varying numbers of phase states, specifically focusing on 1-bit unit cells with two-phase states. Each 1-bit unit cell comprises an aperture-coupled dielectric resonator antenna with a pin-diode serving as the switching element. The performance of these unit cells was examined under different incident angles of electromagnetic waves. It was observed that when the unit cell operates at incidence angles exceeding 45°, significant phase errors occur, resulting in elevated side lobe levels of the reflectarray antenna. To mitigate this issue, phase error compensation was explored to reduce the side lobe levels and increase the gain of the reflectarray antenna.