MMW For Agile Beamsteering And Beamforming

PHYSICAL OPTICS CORPORATION (POC) PROPOSES A SEMICONDUCTOR MASK THAT CAN IMPOSE A DESIRED BEAM PATTERN ON A MILLIMETER WAVE (MMW) FIELD AND CAN QUICKLY CHANGE IT, OFFERING A SIMPLE SUBSTITUTE FOR A PHASED-ARRAY ANTENNA. BASED ON THE PRINCIPLES OF COMPUTER-GENERATED HOLOGRAPHY, EITHER A TRANSMITTANCE OR REFLECTANCE PATTERN CAN BE CALCULATED THAT, WHEN INTERACTING WITH A MMW BEAM, WILL GENERATE A DESIRED FAR-FIELD DISTRIBUTION. THIS PATTERN, IN TURN, CAN RAPIDLY BE IMPOSED, ERASED, AND REWRITTEN BY LIGHT ALONE, PRODUCING AGILE BEAMSTEERING AND BEAMFORMING, QUITE DIFFICULT TO ACHIEVE FOR MILLIMETER WAVES. DINCE THE SPATIAL RESOLUTION REQUIRED FOR MILLIMETER WAVES IS MUCH LOWER THAN THAT OBTAINABLE BY LIGHT, ACCURATE AND CONTINUOUSLY VARIABLE BEAM FORMATION BECOMES POSSIBLE. IN CONTRAST TO CONVENTIONAL PHASED ARRAY ANTENNAS, THE PROPOSED DESIGN USES AN AMPLITUDE-ONLY MASK PATTERN. SUCH A CONTINUOUSLY DISTRIBUTED MMW ANTENNA PATTERN ELIMINATES THE NEED FOR INDIVIDUAL PHASE SHIFTERS THAT INCREASINGLY JEOPARDIZE MMW PACKAGING DESIGN ABOVE 60 GHz. IN THIS PROJECT, POC WILL DEMONSTRATE THE ABILITY OF A LIGHT-CONTROLLED SEMICONDUCTOR WAFER TO MODULATE A MMW FIELD. PRELIMINARY CALCULATIONS SHOW THE FEASIBILITY OF THIS CONCEPT, WHICH WILL BE APPLIED TO THE DESIGN OF A COMPACT, AGILE MMW ANTENNA CONTROLLED BY LIGHT.