The employment of unconventional and very cheap materials is proposed for fabricating a complex radiating structure, with the aim to test the actual feasibility. A partially reflective surface (PRS) is designed to enhance the broadside directivity of an inkjet printed V-slot loaded patch antenna, by means of the Fabry-Pérot resonance effect. The proposed multilayer PRS is obtained by means of ultra-thin polyethylene terephthalate (PET) layers, conductive ink patterns and alldielectric 3D printed polyethylene terephthalate glycol (PETG) layers to achieve a positive reflection phase gradient as a function of frequency f. A prototype of the Fabry-Pérot antenna is fabricated for the first time with the described materials and lowcost technology. The measurements are in good agreement with the design, proving the intended performance. The measured maximum gain is G_M = 13.2 dBi, the 3dB gain bandwidth is BW_G = 24.5% within the impedance matched bandwidth BW_% = 31.3%. The obtained result promises low-cost fabrication for conformal antennas exhibiting good performance even when compared to high quality substrates and more sophisticated technologies.

A low profile dual polarized transmitarray antenna, made of three identical layers, is proposed in this paper for Ku-band applications. The transmitarray comprises 22 × 22 symmetrical unit cells. A 3-bit phase compensation layer with less than α_T = 1.3 dB transmission loss and 2π transmission phase coverage for both linear polarized components at the central frequency f₀ = 12 GHz is designed. Moreover, for an incidence angle θ = 30°, the unit cell transmission loss is less than 2 dB; the transmission phase is close to the transmission phase at zero incidence angle θ = 0°. The fabricated transmitarray exhibits a measured peak gain of Gm₀ = 21 dB at the frequency f₀ = 12 GHz. The corresponding measured 1 dB gain bandwidth is BWg = 10.8% (11.1–12.4 GHz). The measured peak side lobe levels are SLL₀ = −20.8 dB at f₀ = 12 GHz. The transmitarray antenna can be used for beam steering up to an angle of γ_max = ±30° with a measured scan loss △G_MSL1 = 2.73 dB at f₁ = 12.4 GHz.