Progress In Electromagnetics Research C, Vol.

4, 1–12, 2008

TRANSMISSION LINE ANALYSIS OF

APERTURE-COUPLED REFLECTARRAYS

F. Venneri, S. Costanzo, and G. Di Massa

Dipartimento di Elettronica, Informatica e Sistemistica
Universitá della Calabria
87036 Rende (CS), Italy

Abstract—A fast analysis of aperture-coupled reflectarrays is

presented in this work in terms of transmission line model. The
circuital approach is adopted to derive the phase design curve as
a function of the current flowing on the equivalent impedance of
the single radiating element. Computational costs are drastically
reduced with respect to standard full-wave methods. Numerical and
experimental validations are discussed on slot-coupled reflectarray
configurations working at different operating frequencies.

1. INTRODUCTION

A fundamental task in microstrip reflectarrays design is the

determination of an appropriate phase distribution on the radiating
elements giving a field pattern with prescribed features. The optimum
phase delay can be produced by properly choosing each array element
through selection on a curve relating the phase of the reradiated
field to one or more geometrical parameters of the individual radiator
[1, 2]. The phase design curve is usually obtained as a function of
the element resonant size or using stubs with different lengths [3, 4].
Others reflectarray configurations have been developed and applied to
design efficient radiating structures for different applications, such as
multilayer reflectarrays with variable size elements [5, 6], reflectarrays
based on microstrip elements with variable angular rotations [7],
compound-cross-elements [8] patches aperture-coupled to microstrip
lines of different lengths [9–11], or reflectarray elements integrated
with active components [12]. For any reflectarray configuration, the
calculation of the phase design curve is a time consuming procedure
requiring to solve the scattering problem [13–15] inherent to the
reflectarray unit cell for each dimension of the phase tuning parameter.
2 Venneri, Costanzo, and Di Massa

The analysis is usually based on full-wave [16] methods, such the

Moment Method [17–19], by considering either an isolated element [20]
or an infinite array environment [4]. However, the full-wave approach
is characterized by relatively high computational costs, depending on
the complexity of the radiating structure.
A simplified approach in terms of transmission line model is
addressed in this work to the analysis of an isolated reflectarray element
aperture-coupled [21] to a microstrip line of variable length. The
choice of this configuration is fully justified by its versatile features,
primarily related to the wideband behavior [11, 22]. The basic idea is
to adopt the well-known transmission line model [23] for the analysis
of patch antenna and to develop an equivalent circuit modelling the
radiating element. This is considered to derive the field scattered by
the plane-wave illuminated patch, with the specular reflection from
the ground plane taken into account by the physical optics theory [20].
The proposed approach can be considered valid enough when assuming
a negligible mutual coupling between patches. A strong advantage
is to give a fast evaluation procedure for the phase design curves,
thus offering an efficient tool to perform a parametric analysis with
respect to geometrical and electrical features of the reflectarray unit
cell. Numerical validations are presented on the phase curves computed
for different slot-coupled reflectarrays operating at 10 GHz and 20 GHz,
respectively. Results are compared with Moment Method analysis and
measurements.

2. FORMULATION

The analysis is addressed to the structure in Fig. 1(a), where a

rectangular patch slot-coupled to a phase tuning microstrip line is
used as single reflectarray element. The phase delay introduced by
the element is directly related to the length of the microstrip line,
which is ideally composed by two sections with respect to the aperture
center. The first section of the line is characterized by a variable
length Lm and represents the effective phase tuning parameter, while
the second section of fixed size LS is used to realize the matching
between the line itself and the slot-coupled patch. This multi-layer
structure significantly reduces interference effects on the scattered
field due to phase tuning elements usually located on the patches
side. As a matter of fact, the prescribed field is obtained without
changing the geometry of the reflecting surface. The aperture-coupled
reflectarray configuration offers an appealing solution able to provide
good performances in terms of bandwidth, which can be optimized by
accurately choosing the dielectric constant and the thickness of the
Progress In Electromagnetics Research C, Vol. 4, 2008 3

two different substrates or by properly acting on the inter-elements

spacings, as demonstrated in [11, 22].
∆y

∆y Unit cell
Lm Ls

∆x
La
∆x

W
Wm

(b)

patch z

εr1 Slot t
εr2 h y

x y
Phase tuning line

(a) (c)

Figure 1. Aperture-coupled reflectarray: (a) array grid and (b)

geometry layout of the unit cell ((b) top view and (c) side view).

The single slot-coupled reflectarray element of Fig. 1(b) is

analyzed in this work by a transmission line approach [23–25], in order
to have a fast and efficient procedure for computing the phase design
curve.
Let us define as elementary unit cell an isolated aperture-coupled
element printed on a finite grounded dielectric slab having dimensions
according to the element grid spacing (Fig. 1). The total field scattered
from the unit cell can be written as:

E Stot = E Spatch + E Sgrp (1)

where E Spatch and E Sgrp give the fields scattered by the isolated
microstrip patch and the finite ground plane, respectively. These two
contributions can be evaluated separately. In this work, the term
E Spatch is derived from a proper transmission line model of the single
radiator, while the term E Sgrp is computed with the Physical Optics
theory [20].
4 Venneri, Costanzo, and Di Massa

A fundamental TEM mode propagation is assumed for the patch,

as given by the upper resonating transmission line of length L in
Fig. 2. This is terminated at both ends by a complex admittance
YS modelling the radiation and fringing effect of the radiating edges of
length W . The slot in the ground plane is represented by an admittance
Ya including the stored energy near the aperture. It is evaluated as the
parallel admittance of two sections of a shorted slotline (Fig. 2(b)) with
characteristic impedance Zoa and propagation constant koa , which can
be computed by using the Cohn’s method [26] or other more recent
approximated techniques [27].

L/2 L/2

Ys Ys
A A'
n1:1

Ya
B B'

1:n2
C C'

Lm Ls

(a)
B

Zoa,koa Ya Zoa,koa

B'

La/2 La/2

(b)

Figure 2. Transmission line model for (a) the aperture-coupled patch

and (b) the slot.

Two transformers are used for modelling the coupling of

the aperture to the patch and the microstrip line, respectively.
The procedure to evaluate the turn ratios n1 and n2 , based on
the reciprocity theorem [28] and the spectral-domain immittance
approach [29], is detailed in [25]. It requires a proper approximation
Progress In Electromagnetics Research C, Vol. 4, 2008 5

of the induced electric field across the slot and the knowledge of
the magnetic-field eigenvectors on both sides of the ground plane.
As reported in [24], the transformation ratios can be computed by
assuming the following expression of the normalized electric field ea on
the aperture:
 
1 π
ea = y ·  2 cos x (2)
Wa La
π − y2
2
where Wa and La give the width and the length of the aperture (Fig. 1),
respectively.
The magnetic-field components on the ground plane are derived
from the Fourier transforms of the surface current densities on the feed
and the patch conductor [24], respectively. These current densities are
approximated by the following closed form expression [30], accurate
enough for both narrow and wide microstrip lines:
  
Jyi (x) = Ai 1 + B i M i (x) − 1 (3)

where:
1 1
Ai =
·    (4)
Zoi W i 1 + B i π − 1
2
2xc
1− i
B i = 10 · i W (5)
M (xc ) − 1
Wi
M i (x) = 2 (6)
 i 2
 W
 − x2
2

The apex i into Equations (3)–(6) can assume two distinct values,
namely i = 0 and i = 1. The case i = 0 is associated to the
values Zoi = Zof and W i = Wm , where Zof and Wm represent the
characteristic impedance and the width of the feeding line, respectively.
Analogously, the case i = 1 is associated to the values Zoi = Zop and
W i = W , where Zop and W give the characteristic impedance and the
width of the patch. The dependence of the term 2x Wi
c
into Equation (5)
i
versus the ratio of the length W with respect to the relative height
substrate is reported in [30].
6 Venneri, Costanzo, and Di Massa

Once computed the circuital parameters of the transmission line

model in Fig. 2, the field scattered by the patch is derived from the
current flowing through the equivalent Thevenin circuit of Fig. 3. This
models the aperture-coupled element illuminated by an incident plane
wave which is represented by a voltage source Veq .

(a) (b)

Figure 3. (a) Thevenin equivalent network of the aperture-coupled

reflectarray and (b) circuit for the computation of impedance ZAA
.

The impedances Zpatch and ZAA
are computed as the impedances

seen from the upper and the lower side of the circuit at the section AA’
(Fig. 2(a)), respectively. The term Zpatch gives the input impedance
of the patch, while ZAA
is the load impedance taking into account the
effect of the slot and the phasing line. It can be computed from the
circuit of Fig. 3(b) by the expression:
n21
ZAA
= 2 (7)
n2 Yline + Ya

3. NUMERICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL VALIDATIONS

The circuital analysis approach is numerically validated by computing

the current on the impedance Zpatch for some test cases. All the
simulated structures have the same substrate stratification, which is
characterized by two layers of Diclad 870 dielectric with r = 2.33
and thickness t = h = 0.762 mm. A unit cell of dimensions ∆x =
∆y = 0.6λ is assumed for all test cases, λ being the wavelength at the
Progress In Electromagnetics Research C, Vol. 4, 2008 7

resonating frequency. The first reported example is related to a 10 GHz

patch of dimensions L = 8.4 mm and W = 9.5 mm, aperture-coupled
through a rectangular slot with La = 4.6 mm and W a = 0.5 mm
to a microstrip line of variable length 0.6 mm ≤ Lm ≤ 11 mm and
width Wm = 1.16 mm. The phase curve obtained with the proposed
transmission line approach is reported under Fig. 4 and successfully
compared with the result coming from the full-wave Moment Method
analysis of the isolated element.

180
TLM
120 MoM
Reflection phase [deg]

60

-60

-120

-180
0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5
L /λ
m g

Figure 4. Phase design curve of a 10 GHz reflectarray with

asymmetrical delay lines: comparison between transmission line model
(TLM) and Moment Method (MoM).

The second discussed example is related to a 20 GHz aperture-

coupled patch of dimensions L = 3.57 mm and W = 4.9 mm. The slot
has length La = 3.2 mm and width Wa = 0.4 mm, while the tuning line
is characterized by width Wm = 0.65 mm and length Lm variable in
the range [0.25 ÷ 5.5] mm. Again, the reflection phase computed with
the proposed approach results to be in good agreement with the curve
evaluated by the Moment Method, as illustrated in Fig. 5.
As a further validation, the proposed approach is applied to the
analysis of a reflectarray element aperture-coupled with a phasing
line composed by two sections of variable length Lm . As illustrated
in Fig. 6, one section is open ended while the other has a shorted
termination. In this case, the phase design curve is obtained by
symmetrically varying the length of the coupled microstrip line. Fig. 7
illustrates the phase curve computed with the described approach for
a square 10 GHz patch of side length L = 8.2 mm. It is coupled
through a rectangular slot of length La = 5 mm to a microstrip line of
variable length 0.6 mm ≤ Lm ≤ 8 mm and width Wm = 1.16 mm. The
8 Venneri, Costanzo, and Di Massa

180
TLM
120 MoM

Reflection phase [deg] 60

-60

-120

-180
0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5
L /λ
m g

Figure 5. Phase design curve of a 20 GHz reflectarray with

asymmetrical delay lines: comparison between transmission line model
(TLM) and Moment Method (MoM).

L/2 L/2

short Ys
Ys
A A'
Lm
∆y n1:1
L
Ya
Lm La B B'

y 1:n2
W
x C C'
∆x

Lm Lm

(a) (b)

Figure 6. Reflectarray element aperture-coupled with symmetrical

delay line of variable length 2Lm : (a) geometry layout and (b)
equivalent transmission line network.

computed phase design curve is successfully compared in Fig. 7 with

experimental data obtained from measurements which are performed
as described in [31] into the anechoic chamber of Microwave Laboratory
at University of Calabria.
Progress In Electromagnetics Research C, Vol. 4, 2008 9

180
Measurements
120 TLM

Reflection phase [deg] 60

-60

-120

-180
0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3
Lm/λg

Figure 7. Phase design curve for a 10 GHz reflectarray with

symmetrical delay lines: comparison between transmission line model
(TLM) and measurements.

4. CONCLUSIONS

A circuital approach is adopted in this work to fast compute the phase

design curve of aperture-coupled reflectarrays. A transmission line
model is formulated for deriving the field scattered by the single unit
cell, with the Physical Optics approximation adopted to separately
compute the field contribution from the finite grounded plane. When
compared to standard full-wave methods usually adopted in literature,
the proposed approach significantly reduces the computation time,
so providing an accurate procedure to perform efficient parametric
analysis on the reflectarray unit cell. Numerical results are discussed
on aperture-coupled reflectarray configurations working at different
operating frequencies. Validations are presented with both the Moment
Method results and experimental data.

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