Reconfigurable Compound Reflectors and Optically Transparent Reflectarrays for Satellite Applications

Catherine Kocia

Hum Group, EM

Abstract:

Reconfigurable array lens are growing in popularity for their possible application to satellite communications, as they can provide reconfigurable high-gain beam-forming capability at a low cost. In the first part of this talk, potential applications of such reconfigurable array lenses are explored, where they serve as a reconfigurable feed to traditional parabolic reflectors. By analysing this compound aperture (parabolic reflector and reconfigurable array lens) using conjugate field matching and physical optics, it is shown that high-gain pencil beams can be formed and scanned away from the reflector axis.

In the second part of this talk, we look at a second kind of high-gain reflector antenna for satellite applications. A traditional reflectarray antenna is known to combine the features of a phased array and a parabolic reflector. An optically transparent reflectarray antenna has the further advantage of being transparent to optical wavelengths, thereby allowing it to be incorporated onto the solar panels of a satellite. This maximizes the satellite’s surface area for both solar power collection and antenna gain. In this talk, I will present an optically transparent reflectarray antenna consisting of patch elements fabricated using transparent conductive oxide (TCO) that produces a beam 20 degrees off-broadside.

Biography:

Catherine Kocia received a Bachelor of Applied Science degree in Engineering Science, majoring in computer and electrical engineering, from the University of Toronto, in 2012, and is currently working towards completing a Masters of Applied Science degree at the University of Toronto under Prof. Sean Hum. She has previously worked as a summer student at the National Research Council of Canada and as a RF engineering student at Sentinelle Medical Inc. Her current research interests lie in the areas of reconfigurable antenna arrays and satellite communications.