Dual-band wide-angle beam steering thin film metasurface for satellite communication.

Abstract

In this paper, we propose a dual-band wide-angle beam steering thin film metasurface (TFM) for satellite communication. Based on the polarization multiplexing strategy, the TFM integrates both downlink (11.5-13.5 GHz) and uplink (13.25-15.25 GHz) frequency bands of satellite communications. An ingenious anisotropic meta-atom is devised to ensure high isolation of dual-band signals. Wide-angle beam steering is achieved based on a quadratic phase distribution for the array configuration of the two polarization modes. As a proof of concept, we fabricated a TFM antenna with a diameter of 800 mm. Simulation and experimental results demonstrate that beam control is effectively achieved over a ±60° range with a gain loss of 3.2 dB. The proposed TFM antenna features low profile, lightweight, dual-band, and wide-angle beam steering, making it an excellent candidate for satellite communication.