Description
Nowadays several applications need antennas with high performance, such as wide bandwidth, scanning or multi beam capabilities, joined to features such as reduced volume, low complexity and cost. Solutions able to satisfy these requirements are those consisting in a planar, spatially-fed reflecting or transmitting surface, that can be eventually bent to adhere to a curved support. The research activity is focused on the design of innovative configurations of reflectarray or transmitarray antennas properly designed to obtain the desired radiation patterns, and fulfill the other mentioned criteria. The research is application-oriented, and therefore solutions for particular applications, as for the on board or the terrestrial part of a satellite communication system, are considered.
The design procedure is based on the use of efficient, properly customized, optimization techniques. To increase the antenna performance, suitable manufacturing techniques are also investigated. In particular, additive manufacturing techniques are considered for the realization of prototypes: this solution requires an accurate characterization of the electromagnetic features of the adopted materials and a study of the effect of the manufacturing process on the resulting antenna performance.