Abstract: An antenna reflector material for electromagnetic waves is comprised of knitted strands of fine diameter graphite filaments, which have been individually coated with a stress absorbing layer (e.g. a thin metallic or dielectric cladding). Because of the stress absorbing coating, the graphite fibers, which, by themselves, are inherently brittle and unable to tolerate substantial changes to their bend radius profiles, are able to be successfully knitted into a tricot mesh configuration and thereby yield an antenna surface material that possesses a near-zero coefficient of thermal expansion and a sufficiently low in-plane mechanical stiffness. After the tricot knit graphite mesh material has been formed, the cladding layer may be removed (e.g. by heat or chemically dissolved), without affecting the mechanical properties of the graphite strands of the tricot knit.

Abstract: An improved antenna mesh material is made of gold-plated tungsten wire. Because gold-plated tungsten can be drawn to a very fine diameter (less than one mil) it results in a knit mesh having low mechanical stiffness. It also has high electrical conductivity, thereby enhancing its operation as an antenna reflector up to the higher RF frequencies (EHF). In addition, gold-plated tungsten has both sufficient tensile strength and a low coefficient of thermal expansion which enables it to maintain high reflector surface accuracy for changing thermal conditions.