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Reconfigurable meta-mirror for wavefronts control: Applications to microwave

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Article  in  Optics Express · February 2018

DOI: 10.1364/OE.26.002613

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 Vol. 26, No. 3 | 5 Feb 2018 | OPTICS EXPRESS 2613

Reconfigurable meta-mirror for wavefronts

control: applications to microwave antennas
BADREDDINE RATNI,1,* ANDRÉ DE LUSTRAC,2,3 GÉRARD-PASCAL PIAU,4
1,5
AND SHAH NAWAZ BUROKUR
1
LEME, UPL, Univ Paris Nanterre, F92410 Ville d’Avray, France
2
Centre de Nanosciences et de Nanotechnologies, CNRS, Univ. Paris-Sud, Université Paris-Saclay,
C2N - Orsay, 91405 Orsay cedex, France
3
UPL, Univ Paris Nanterre, F92410 Ville d’Avray, France
4
AIRBUS, 92150 Suresnes, France
5
sburokur@parisnanterre.fr
*
badreddine.ratni@parisnanterre.fr

Abstract: A planar metasurface composed of electronically tunable meta-atoms incorporating

voltage-controlled varactor diodes is proposed as a reconfigurable meta-mirror for wavefronts
control in microwave antenna applications. The dispersion responses of the cells are
individually tailored in the reconfigurable metasurface so as to overcome the bandwidth
limitations of passive metasurfaces and also to control the phase characteristics. By
controlling the bias voltage of the varactor diodes on the planar metasurface, the phase
characteristics of reflectors can be engineered. The reconfigurable meta-mirror is utilized to
implement three different types of reflectors. As such, a reflectarray, a cylindrical parabolic
reflector and a dihedral reflector are numerically verified in microwave regime through finite
element method. Moreover, experimental measurements are performed on a fabricated
prototype to validate the proposed device. Frequency agility, beam deflection and beam
focusing are the main functionalities demonstrated from the proposed reconfigurable meta-
mirror.
© 2018 Optical Society of America under the terms of the OSA Open Access Publishing Agreement
OCIS codes: (160.3918) Metamaterials; (160.1245) Artificially engineered materials; (260.2030) Dispersion;
(350.5610) Radiation; (350.4010) Microwaves.

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#313612 https://doi.org/10.1364/OE.26.002613
Journal © 2018 Received 16 Nov 2017; revised 22 Dec 2017; accepted 23 Dec 2017; published 24 Jan 2018
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1. Introduction
Artificial composites formed by subwavelength microstructures known as metamaterials, can
possess arbitrary values of permittivity and permeability and can thus offer the possibility to
manipulate light in an unprecedented manner. Thanks to their unusual electromagnetic
properties, negative refraction [1] sub-diffraction imaging [2] and invisibility cloaking [3] are
among the most striking applications that have been made possible through the use of
metamaterials. Recently, metasurfaces that are ultra-thin and planar versions of
metamaterials, have been proposed to exhibit various light manipulation capabilities [4].
Metasurfaces present the main advantage of having reduced profile and losses, and also being
conformable on curved objects. The fact that metasurfaces consist generally in thin sheets
materials greatly facilitates their fabrication compared to that of three-dimensional (3D) bulky
metamaterials. The possibility to tailor and control the reflection and transmission
characteristics of metasurfaces has led to other fascinating device applications in the
microwave as well as the optical domains. By controlling the reflection and/or transmission
characteristics of metasurfaces, anomalous reflection and refraction have been made possible
[5–11]. Applications to flat lenses [12–18], propagating to surface waves transformers [19]
and waveplates [20–22] have also been proposed and validated. In the field of microwave
antennas, metasurfaces have been successfully implemented in planar lens antennas [23–26],
cavity antennas [27–29] and leaky-wave antennas [30] to achieve high directivity.
In the microwave regime, reflector antennas [31–35] are among the most widely applied
antennas and have extensively been used due to their high-gain properties for applications
related to remote sensing, satellite communications, radio astronomy, radars, and global
positioning system (GPS). The conventional reflector is generally made of a metallic surface
or grid having a parabolic, dihedral or trihedral shape that forms the diameter of the antenna.
Dihedral and trihedral reflectors also known as corner reflectors are generally used as radar
targets, in calibrating test equipment. Such antennas present the main disadvantage of being
bulky due to mainly their non-planar profile. In this letter, we propose a planar meta-mirror
where the phase characteristics can be reconfigured to act as an interesting alternative to non-
planar reflectors. Voltage-controlled electronic elements are inserted in the reflective
metasurface to engineer desired phase profiles of reflectors for wavefronts control. Such a
tunable meta-mirror also allows achieving reconfigurability mechanisms that cannot be
obtained from classical continuous metallic reflectors. As such, phase profiles can be easily
tailored over a broad frequency range simply by changing the spatial distribution of bias
voltage of each varactor diode, in order to have a frequency agile reflector. Furthermore,
deflection of the radiated beam to off-normal directions can be achieved. Moreover, the phase
profile can be dynamically modified to transform the radiated beam of an antenna at will,
depending on the working context.
2. Design of the reconfigurable meta-mirror
A schematic view of the proposed meta-mirror is shown in Fig. 1(a). The structure is
composed of copper strips printed on a low loss (tan δ = 0.003) copper-backed ARLON
AD450 dielectric substrate with relative permittivity εr = 4.5 and thickness 1.52 mm. The
copper strips have a width w = 0.5 mm and are separated by a gap g = 1.9 mm. When oriented
perpendicular to the incident electric field, the strips play the role of a capacitive grid. On the
other face, and in order to get a higher efficiency of the reflected wave, a continuous ground
plane is printed. Additionally, the ground plane plays the role of an inductive grid.
 Vol. 26, No. 3 | 5 Feb 2018 | OPTICS EXPRESS 2616

Classically, the resonant frequency of the LC unit cell can be changed by varying geometrical
dimensions of the structure. However, such operation mode is not really practical, particularly
when we need to dynamically control the dispersion characteristics. Here, our main goal is to
perform an electronic control of the meta-mirror by incorporating electronic components in
the unit cells. Thus, varactor diodes are integrated between two consecutive strips in the
capacitive grid. By applying a reversed bias DC voltage, the capacitance of each unit-cell can
be tuned leading to a shift in the resonant frequency. In our case, Aeroflex MGV 125-08
varactor diodes that present a dynamic capacitance varying from 0.055 pF to 0.6 pF are used.
A prototype of the proposed meta-mirror is realized and a photography of the physical device
together with the electronic bias system is presented in Fig. 1(b). The structure is composed
of 30 columns, each containing 30 resonant unit cells.

Fig. 1. (a) Schematic design of the reconfigurable meta-mirror. The unit cell has geometrical
dimensions: p = 6 mm, w = 0.5 mm and g = 1.9 mm and DC biased incorporated a varactor
diode. (b) Photography of the fabricated reconfigurable meta-mirror and electronic bias
system.

The meta-mirror is characterized experimentally in an anechoic chamber. The

experimental setup shown in Fig. 2(a), consists in using two horn antennas in order to
 Vol. 26, No. 3 | 5 Feb 2018 | OPTICS EXPRESS 2617

measure the reflection responses of the meta-mirror as shown in Fig. 2(a). Measurements are
performed for different bias voltages that are applied similarly through the whole structure.
The magnitude and phase responses for the different applied bias voltages are reported in
Figs. 2(b)-2(e). The results show that the tunable meta-mirror allows to control the intrinsic
dispersions of the structure for a reconfigurability mechanism. As shown in Figs. 2(b) and
2(d), the resonance frequency of the meta-mirror shifts from 8.35 GHz to 11.6 GHz when the
bias voltage varies from 0.5 V to 20 V, corresponding to a capacitance of 0.6 pF and 0.055 pF
respectively. The highest phase gradient which is close to 290° is achieved at 9 GHz.
In order to validate the reconfigurability mechanism, the proposed meta-mirror is used to
design reflector antennas that are described in the following section.

Fig. 2. (a) Setup of measurement of the reflection coefficient of the meta-mirror. Measured
reflection responses of the meta-mirror for different bias voltages: (b) and (d) Magnitude, and
(c) and (e) Phase.
 Vol. 26, No. 3 | 5 Feb 2018 | OPTICS EXPRESS 2618

3. Wavefronts control in microwave antenna applications

Since the response of the reflected wave on the meta-mirror can be dynamically controlled as
desired, we propose to use it for the design of three different configurations of reflector
antennas in order to demonstrate the various potentialities of the proposed structure.
3.1 Reflectarray
As a first functionality, we consider the meta-mirror as a reconfigurable reflectarray antenna.
Since the generalization of the reflection and/or refraction laws [5], we can predict accurately
the wave deflection by considering local phase variation. Therefore, the meta-mirror can be a
good alternative to classical reflectarrays. However, metasurfaces generally suffer from a
very low bandwidth due to the intrinsic response of resonant unit cells. This point has been
discussed in [36], where the authors have proposed to overcome this problem by
incorporating lumped electronic elements in the structure so as to achieve a broadband
operation. However, it should be noted that a passive phase gradient was applied in the
metasurface and the implementation of lumped elements allows only to control the working
frequency. Here in this study, to allow a broad operating frequency bandwidth, we propose a
meta-mirror that is totally agile and that allows to control beam steering and working
frequency.
For the proof of concept, the far-field radiation patterns measurement setup illustrated in
Fig. 3(a) has been established in an anechoic chamber. The incident wave is generated by an
X-band (8.2 GHz – 12.4 GHz) horn antenna which is positioned along the normal in front of
the meta-mirror and both are fixed on a rotating plate. When the rotating plate moves, both
the sample and horn antenna rotate together, in order to keep the meta-mirror illuminated by a
normal incident electromagnetic wave. A second broadband horn antenna is placed in the far-
field in order to measure the radiation pattern. The two horn antennas are connected to an
Agilent 8722ES network analyzer.
First, we demonstrate the control of the direction of the reflected beam. For that, we select
three angles of 15°, 30° and 45° at a fixed frequency of 9 GHz and the corresponding phase
gradients Δφ that should be applied are calculated by the generalized law of reflection [5]:
λ0 Δϕ
nr sin (θ r ) − ni sin (θi ) = (1)
2π Δx
In our case, nr = ni = 1, θi = 0°, θr varies from 15° to 45° by 15° step. The calculated phase
values Δφ required for the different beam steering angles are shown in Fig. 3(b) and are set by
applying the corresponding bias voltages for each cell presented in Fig. 3(c). The measured
radiation pattern corresponding to each case is presented in Fig. 3(d). All the measured
radiations patterns are normalized with respect to the reflection of a metal sheet of similar
size which is illuminated by a horn antenna placed at an off-normal incidence of 10°. The
results show a deflection of the main beam to the different considered angles. Simulations of
the structure have been performed by using high frequency structure simulator (HFSS) finite
element method (FEM) based commercial code by ANSYS [37]. Measurements data are in
good agreement with simulation results. However, we can observe that in simulation the
radiation patterns are narrower than in measurements. This is due to the use of an incident
plane wave in numerical simulations which is more directive than the horn antenna used as
wave launcher in the experimental tests.
 Vol. 26, No. 3 | 5 Feb 2018 | OPTICS EXPRESS 2619

Fig. 3. (a) Far-field measurement setup of the reflectarray antenna. (b) Applied phase gradients
(Δφ = 15°, 30°, 45°) along the meta-mirror used for the beam steering at 9 GHz. (c) Applied
bias voltage corresponding for the different configurations. (d) Simulated and measured far-
field radiation patterns, where the performances obtained from the meta-mirror are normalized
to that of a metal sheet. Due to the phase gradient applied along the meta-mirror, anomalous
reflection is observed when illuminated by a normally incident electromagnetic wave.

Furthermore, it is also possible to obtain the off-normal radiation at other frequencies

between 9 and 11 GHz. In order to exhibit such frequency agility mechanism, θr is fixed to
30° and the phase gradients are calculated at 9 GHz, 9.5 GHz, 10 GHz, 10.5 GHz and 11
GHz. The corresponding phase gradients and bias voltages are presented in Figs. 4(a) and
4(b), respectively. The simulated and measured results are shown in Figs. 4(c)-4(g). The
radiation patterns are also normalized to the one obtained for a metal sheet. The scattering
angles are 30° deflecting from the normal of the meta-mirror, which is in good agreement
with the calculations from (1). As it can be clearly observed, operation spanning from 9 GHz
 Vol. 26, No. 3 | 5 Feb 2018 | OPTICS EXPRESS 2620

to 11 GHz with low level of specular reflections is obtained. However, above 11 GHz, the
scanning angle will be less since the phase gradient is smaller.

Fig. 4. Demonstration of frequency agility in the reflectarray meta-mirror. (a) Applied phase
gradients. (b) Applied bias voltage corresponding to the different configurations. (c) - (g)
Simulated and measured performances for the frequency agile anomalous reflection, where the
radiation diagrams are normalized to that of a metal sheet.

On the overall, the experimental data validate the use of the meta-mirror as a reflectarray
antenna. Reconfigurability mechanisms of the proposed electronically tunable meta-mirror,
namely frequency agility and beam steering properties have been demonstrated. Furthermore,
 Vol. 26, No. 3 | 5 Feb 2018 | OPTICS EXPRESS 2621

the meta-mirror reflector shows an efficiency of more than 55%, which is quite remarkable
when considering the integration of lumped electronic components.
3.2 Parabolic reflector antenna
In the previous section, beam steering and frequency agility have been demonstrated by
electronically controlling the reflection phase profile of the planar meta-mirror. In addition,
the phase of the meta-mirror can be controlled to emulate a reflector with a non-planar
geometry. This second functionality consists in using the designed meta-mirror as a parabolic
reflector antenna. To validate such functionality, a cylindrical parabolic phase profile is
applied along the meta-mirror. The planar reflector must take into account the phase shift that
exists between the planar surface and a parabolic one:

Fig. 5. (a) Schematic principle of using the proposed meta-mirror as a parabolic reflector
antenna. (b) Calculated cylindrical parabolic phase profile at 9 GHz, 10 GHz, 11 GHz and 12
GHz. (b) Measured far-field radiation patterns of the planar parabolic reflector antenna
compared to that of the feeding source alone. A highly directive beam is observed in the xOz
plane.

2π  ( x − x0 ) 
2

φ ( x) =   + φ0 (2)
λ  4 f 

where λ is the free space operating wavelength, f = 3 cm is the focal distance and φ0 is the
reflection phase shift at x0. A direct coaxial-fed microstrip patch antenna designed for a 10
GHz operation is used as primary source and is placed at the focal point f. Since the varactor
diodes are addressed in a column configuration, the designed meta-mirror allows to apply a
phase modulation in only the xOz plane, corresponding to a cylindrical parabolic profile.
 Vol. 26, No. 3 | 5 Feb 2018 | OPTICS EXPRESS 2622

Figure 5(a) presents the schematic principle of using the meta-mirror as a cylindrical
parabolic reflector antenna. Two different mechanisms are studied from the planar parabolic
reflector. As a first mechanism, the frequency agility performance of the reflector antenna is
experimentally tested. Figure 5(b) presents the phase profile calculated using (2) for x0 = 0 at
four different frequencies (9 GHz, 10 GHz, 11 GHz and 12 GHz), where we are able to secure
enough reflection phase variation along the meta-mirror so as to provide the required
parabolic phase profile. The profiles are symmetric with respect to the middle plane of the
metasurface (x0 = 0) containing the focal point. For the experimental validation, far-field
radiation patterns of the antenna system are measured in an anechoic chamber and are
presented in Fig. 5(c). Compared to the antenna pattern of the feeding source alone, the
reflector antenna shows a directive beam. After reflection on the meta-mirror, the cylindrical
wave fronts emanating from the feeding source are flattened and transformed into quasi-
planar waves, producing a highly directive radiation at the four tested frequencies.

Fig. 6. Beam steering mechanism in the parabolic reflector antenna configuration. (a)
Considered cases where phase profiles are shifted along x-direction on the meta-mirror, with φ0
lying at x0 = 6 mm, 12 mm and 48 mm. (b) Measured far-field radiation patterns showing off-
normal radiation of the beam.

The second tested mechanism consists in electronically steering the radiated beam of the
reflector antenna system. In conventional parabolic reflector antennas, beam steering is
generally achieved by moving laterally the feeding source in the focal plane [38–40]. In our
case, both the meta-mirror and the feeding source are physically kept fixed. Therefore, instead
of mechanically moving the reflector, only by using the reconfigurable cells, we are able to
shift electronically the phase profiles such that the feeding source is virtually displaced in the
focal plane. Three different phase profiles are considered at 10 GHz as presented in Fig. 6(a).
The reference reflection phase is laterally shifted along the x-direction on the meta-mirror,
such that φ0 lies at x0 = 6 mm, 12 mm and 48 mm. The feeding source is kept fixed at x = 0.
The corresponding measured radiation patterns of the antenna system are presented in Fig.
6(b). A beam steering can be clearly observed where the deflection angle can reach 55° for a
phase profile shift by 48 mm. It is worthwhile to note that in our case the phase profile shift is
limited by the lateral dimensions of the meta-mirror. A larger structure will therefore allow
increasing the latter shift, and also potentially achieving higher beam deflection. The
proposed meta-mirror thus offers an interesting alternative to design planar parabolic reflector
antennas that present the possibility to be reconfigured.
3.3 Corner reflector antenna
Finally, we propose to use the meta-mirror as a dihedral reflector antenna, commonly known
as corner reflector antenna. In order to obtain such functionality, we apply the corresponding
phase profile by taking into account the phase shift that exists between the planar surface and
a corner reflector one, as shown in Fig. 7(a). The corresponding phase profile is given as:
 Vol. 26, No. 3 | 5 Feb 2018 | OPTICS EXPRESS 2623

2π  α  
ψ ( x) = co tan   x  + ψ 0 (3)
λ0  2 
where λ0 is the free space operating wavelength, α is the internal angle of the corner reflector
and ψ0 is the reflection phase shift at x0. A direct coaxial-fed 1.5 cm long dipole antenna
designed for a 10 GHz operation is used as driven source and is placed at the distance s =
0.7λ0 from the vertex. For proper operation, each reflecting surface of a classical corner
reflector must have a length L equal to twice the feed-to-vertex distance s, as illustrated in
Fig. 7(a). Therefore, the size of the meta-mirror acting as reflector has been reduced to 82 mm
× 180 mm by applying electromagnetic absorbers on the borders of the meta-mirror.

Fig. 7. (a) Schematic diagram of the planar reconfigurable meta-mirror used as a corner
reflector antenna. The internal angle α can be reconfigured by electronically modifying the
phase profile. (b) Engineered phase profile for internal angles α = 90° and α = 120°. (c)
Measured radiation patterns in xOy plane. (d) Measured radiation patterns in yOz plane.

The DC bias voltage is applied to each column such that capacitance value and thus phase
value can be varied only along the x-axis. In this configuration, the incident field impinging
on the meta-mirror must also have its electric component oriented along x-direction.
Therefore, the driven dipole element is placed horizontally as shown in Fig. 7(a).The
proposed reconfigurable meta-mirror allows modifying the internal angle α electronically. To
illustrate the properties of the planar meta-mirror reflector as a reconfigurable corner
reflector, two configurations are tested: α = 90° and α = 120°. The bias voltages are set so as
to apply the required phase profiles shown in Fig. 7(b). The far-field radiation patterns of the
corner reflector antenna system in both xOy and yOz planes are measured in an anechoic
chamber and presented in Figs. 7(c) and 7(d), respectively. The radiation patterns at 10.3 GHz
are normalized with respect to those of the driven dipole. Compared to the antenna patterns of
 Vol. 26, No. 3 | 5 Feb 2018 | OPTICS EXPRESS 2624

the driven source alone, the reflector antenna shows only a forward radiated beam where a
gain increase of approximately 4 dB is observed.
4. Conclusion
In summary, we designed a varactor-loaded reconfigurable meta-mirror where the reflection
phase is engineered through an electronic control of the capacitance. The designed
electronically tunable meta-mirror has been characterized experimentally and used to design
three different reflector antennas. First, a reconfigurable reflectarray has been designed. Beam
steering functionality has been demonstrated by applying different phase gradients along the
meta-mirror at a fixed frequency. Then, broadband anomalous reflection has been
electronically controlled over 20% frequency bandwidth around 10 GHz. Furthermore,
reflection phase is controlled to mimic non-planar reflectors. As such, in a second
functionality the planar meta-mirror is used to design a parabolic profile reflector, where a
broadband high directive beam has been obtained over 28% frequency bandwidth around 10.5
GHz. Beam steering mechanisms have also been demonstrated by electronically shifting the
phase profile along the meta-mirror. Finally, we have shown that by engineering the geometry
of the phase profile, the meta-mirror allows to mimic a dihedral corner reflector where the
internal angle can be further reconfigured.
In this study, we have shown the potentials of the tunable structure, where a single meta-
mirror can be judiciously reconfigured to design different reflectors for microwave antenna
applications. Other reflector geometries can also be engineered by correctly applying the
corresponding phase profiles. This planar structure constitutes an interesting alternative to
non-planar reflectors with the additional possibility to reconfigure the operating frequency
and the reflection direction. Furthermore, such reconfigurable metasurface design concept can
be extended to the optical domain. Technologies such as nano-optomechanical and phase-
change can be exploited for the reconfigurability mechanism. Magneto-electric changes in
optical response can be tailored in a metasurface by the Lorentz force on simultaneous
application of external electric and magnetic fields [41]. Phase change medium such as
chalcogenide compound constitutes an interesting technology that enables nonvolatile
switching of optical properties [42-43].

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