Dielectric corner reflectors for mmWave applications

Using dielectrics instead of conventional metallic structures, this article investigates the properties of the proposed dielectric corner reflectors for use in a number of millimeter wave (mmWave) applications. Material characterizations of different typical plastics using transmission measurements are presented, as well as an analysis of their respective radar cross section (RCS) when used as corner reflectors. They exhibit similar behavior as conventional metallic ones, while intrinsic dielectric losses reduce the overall RCS. Additionally, two use cases are presented. One shows the potential capabilities by combining a dielectric with a metallic corner reflector to increase its opening angle. The other gives rise to the possibility of using several single dielectric reflectors in array configurations to further increase the overall RCS, while introducing grating lobes.