LOW COST PIEZO-ELECTRONIC PHASED-ARRAY ANTENNA

THE DESIRE FOR A LOW-COT PHASED-ARRAY HAS BEEN THE FOCUS OF ANTENNA TECHNOLOGY FOR AS LONG AS THESE SYSTEMS HAVE BEEN USED. FOR A WHILE MMIC TECHNOLOGY SEEMED TO OFFER A SOLUTION, BUT DESPITE SEVERAL YEARS OF ENDEAVOR LOW COST, WITH REASONABLE PERFORMANCE, IF NOT WITHIN SIGHT. MALIBU RESEARCH BELIEVES A DRAMATICALLY DIFFERENT MATERIAL APPROACH IS CALLED FOR. RECENTLY MALIBU RESEARCH HAS DEVELOPED A PHASED-SURFACE TECHNOLOGY FOR CONSTRUCTION OF THIN, LOW COST ELECTROMAGNETIC STRUCTURES HAVING THE CAPABILITY OF STEERING INCIDENT RF IN ARRAYS OF PRINTED CIRCUIT DIPOLES ON A THIN DIELECTRIC SUBSTRATE. WE HAVE USED THIS METHOD SUCCESSFULLY TO IMPLEMENT ANTENNA AND CONTROLLED SCATTERING SURFACES OF C-BAND, KU-BAND, KA-BAND AND W-BAND, AS DESCRIBED IN OUR PROPOSAL. IN THE PRESENT DESIGNS THE BEAM IS NOT STEERED, HOWEVER AS IS SHOWN HEREIN, IF A PIEZOELECTRIC MATERIAL IS USED AS THE SUBSTRATE THEN VOLTAGE MODULATION OF THIS WILL RESULT IN AN ELECTRONICALLY STEERABLE BEAM. FURTHERMORE THE NATURE OF THE REFLECTIVE SURFACE OPERATION IN INHERENTLY LEADS TO LOW LOSSES AND THE POTENTIAL FOR VERY LOW MANUFACTURING COST. THE PROPOSED SBIR PROJECT WILL ESTABLISH THE FEASIBILITY OF THIS PIEZO-ELECTRONIC SCAN ANTENNA CONCEPT BY MEANS OF RESEARCH, ANALYSIS, SIMULATION AND ANTENNA DESIGN.