A corner reflector is a passive device used to reflect radio waves back toward the transmit source. Therefore, the corner reflector is a useful device for radar system calibration and testing. The corner reflector is made of intersected perpendicular plates. The most common type of corner reflectors are dihedral and trihedral.

The dihedral corner reflectors can be sensitive to its mechanical alignment so more can issues can occur while the trihedral corner reflect is much more tolerant to being misaligned. This offers an easy way for quick field setup and calibration when needed. The trihedral corner reflector is made from three right angles which is illustrated in the image below.

The effective area is calculated by:

Where “a” is the side length of the trihedral.

The effective radar cross section is calculated by:

Where λ is the wavelength of the radar signal.

In trihedral corner reflectors, the radio waves that hit the corner reflector are bounced by each surface area, three times total to result in a reversed wave that sends back towards the source. Because of this, the trihedral corner reflectors give a high Radar Cross Section or “RCS” target for radar system testing, calibration and data for your application.

Millimeter Wave Products Inc. (Mi-Wave) offers standard trihedral corner reflectors with the sizes from 1.8” to 16”. We can also manufacture custom sizes upon request. Consult with our sales engineers today.