Frequency Reconfiguration of a Dual-Band Phased Array Antenna With Variable-Impedance Matching

In this article, a dual-band phased-array antenna element is presented. The proposed element is particularly designed to possess frequency tuning capabilities by variable-impedance matching. It is demonstrated that the operational frequency band of the antenna shifts from L- to S-band (about 2.5:1 frequency ratio) with in-band frequency tuning of about 25%. The compact size and the wide-angle scanning properties, make the antenna element suitable for phased-array application. Other advantages of variable-impedance matching for phased-array systems, such as sustain wider scan angles and minimize unwanted signal interferences, coming from spurious directions, are also discussed.