Passive MMW Imaging Sensor Based on a New Scanning Antenna

WaveBand Corporation (WaveBand) proposes to develop a new passive MMW imaging (PMMWI) System that will be distinguished by low cost, high-speed 2-D scanning, and wide-band operation. The key element of the proposed system is a novel scanning antenna based on an already experimentally tested concept. The antenna comprises a spinning disk that supports N switching multi-mode waveguides, and a zoned spherical lens. An array of N wide-band radiometers is coupled to the antenna to form the imaging system. The waveguides perform cross-switching between the focal points of the lens and the radiometers that allows to obtain a N x N MMW image per each rotation of the disk. The antenna is designed to operate in a very wide band (bandwidth in excess of 30% of the central frequency) and with incoherent MMW sources; this provides an ideal match to the desired operating conditions of a passive radar.