A 2-D Electronically Steered Phased-Array Antenna With 2 x 2 Elements in LC Display Technology

作者：Karabey Onur Hamza^*; Gaebler Alexander; Strunck Sebastian; Jakoby Rolf

来源：IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques, 2012, 60(5): 1297-1306.

DOI：10.1109/TMTT.2012.2187919

• Beam steering
• liquid crystal (LC)
• microstrip antenna arrays
• passive circuits
• phase shifters
• planar arrays
• variable delay lines

For the first time, a 2-D electronically steered phased-array antenna with a liquid-crystal (LC)-based variable delay line is presented. The structure, which is designed at 17.5 GHz, consists of a 2 x 2 microstrip patch antenna array, continuously variable delay lines with a novel geometry, RF feeding, and biasing networks. The expected insertion loss of the variable delay line is less than 4 dB with a maximum differential phase shift of 300 degrees. During the measurements, the antenna is steered by applying an appropriate dc biasing in the range of 0-15 V to the variable delay lines. It is also shown that the return loss is always better than 15 dB at the operating frequency when the antenna is steered. The antenna is implemented by adapting the well-established LC display technology. It utilizes automated manufacturing techniques enabling a low-cost fabrication of larger arrays even for a low volume production. The proposed antenna concept is suited for applications, where antennas are aimed to be mounted close or being even integrated into the structure for some esthetic reasons, e.g., in a rooftop or body of a vehicle for terrestrial and satellite-based services. This research advances the state-of-the-art for LC-based reconfigurable antennas.

• 出版日期2012-5