Electronically reconfigurable binary phase liquid crystal reflectarray metasurface at 108 GHz

We have proposed a preliminary design and computation results of a 20 by 20 elements reconfigurable liquid crystal (LC) based binary phase reflectarray metasurface for applications in THz wireless communication. Specifically, we performed full-wave simulations and theoretical calculations on the far-field patterns of our proposed device, and we also developed optimisation routines for both the antenna unit cell design as well as far-field pattern synthesis algorithms. The LC used was modelled after Merk's model GT3-23001. At optimal operation frequency of 108 GHz, the phase difference between ON and OFF state is 177 degrees, and the reflection amplitudes of both states are 0.88. We were able to demonstrate 60 degrees of beam steering, which was achieved together with a (single beam) RCS of -5.8 dBm2, when the device dimension is only 20mm by 20mm. The operational bandwidth is plus or minus 2 GHz from central frequency of 108 GHz.