Development of liquid crystal reflectarrays utilizing a passive matrix control scheme

This research is part of a multi-objective initiative into developing an improved alternative for phased array antennas for space communication. Liquid Crystal Reflectarrays are seen as a possible enabler to realizing electrically steerable antennas with reduced costs and hardware associated with current single feed designs. Within this publication, the authors will setup the initial equations for a LC Reflectarray and demonstrate a potential control scheme for controlling the reflection characteristics of a reflectarray.