A FEW NASA DECADAL MISSIONS SUCH AS THE AEROSOL CLOUDS ECOSYSTEMS (ACE) MISSION REQUIRE SPACE-BASED MILLIME…

Public award description

A FEW NASA DECADAL MISSIONS SUCH AS THE AEROSOL CLOUDS ECOSYSTEMS (ACE) MISSION REQUIRE SPACE-BASED MILLIMETER-WAVE RADAR APERTURES TO COMPLETE THE SCIENCE OBJECTIVES. WE PROPOSE TO CREATE DUAL-POLARIZED MICROFABRICATED COPPER-BASED ANTENNA APERTURES WITH INTEGRATED MMICS THAT GO BEYOND THE CAPABILITIES FUNDED TO DATE AT THE UPPER FREQUENCIES OF INTEREST BY ENABLING ELECTRONIC SCANNING AT W-BAND FREQUENCIES, WHILE NOT PRECLUDING THE CO-LOCATION OF KA-BAND CAPABILITY IN THE SAME APERTURE. THIS PHASE I EFFORT WILL CONSTITUTE ELEMENT-, FEED-, MMIC-, AND ARRAY-LEVEL ANALYSES OF THE TRADE SPACE FOR THE PROPOSED APERTURE. IN ADDITION WE WILL PROVIDE A HARDWARE DEMONSTRATION OF MMIC INTEGRATION ON THE NECESSARY SCALE FOR W-BAND PHASED ARRAYS AND HIGH-EFFICIENCY DUAL POLARIZED ANTENNA ELEMENTS. THE PHASE II EFFORT WOULD INTEGRATE MMIC FUNCTIONALITY WITH THE ANTENNAS TO CREATE AN ARRAY TILE THAT WILL BE FULLY CHARACTERIZED.