MONOPULSE OPTICS FOR RADAR

GAUSSIAN BEAM WEAVEGUIDE (GBW) IS A NATURAL TRANSMISSION MEDIUM FOR MULTI-SPATIAL, MULTI-POLARIZATION SYSTEMS AT MILLIMETER WAVELENGTHS. IN PHASE I OF THIS EFFORT WE WILL STUDY THE IMAGING PROPERTIES OF GBW WITH APPLICATION TO SYSTEMS REQUIRING MONOPULSE BEAM FORMATION FOR TRACKING INFORMATION. WE WILL INVESTIGATE THE DEGREE TO WHICH MINIATURIZATION OF BEAM WAVEGUIDE TECHNIQUES CAN BE PUSHED WHILE RETAINING LOW LOSS AND HIGH POLARIZATION ISOLATION. WE WILL STUDY PROMISING TECHNIQUES FOR GENERATING MONOPULSE BEAMS WHICH COULD BE USED TO ILLUMINATE A MILLIMETER APERTURE ANTENNA. BASED ON THE OUTCOME OF THE INITIAL ANALYSIS, OPTIMIZATION OF A SELECTED MONOPULSE PROCESSOR IN TERMS OF COMPACTNESS, BEAM OVERLAP, AND SYSTEM CONFIGURATION WILL BE CARRIED OUT. THIS EFFORT WILL BE PRIMARILY BASED ON NUMERICAL DIFFRACTION CALCULATIONS COUPLED WITH GAUSSIAN MODE ANALYSIS AND SUPPLEMENTED BY RAY TRACING WHERE APPROPRIATE. EXTENSIVE EXPERIENCE WITH BEAM WAVEGUIDE SYSTEM HAS SUGGESTED THE CONFIGURATION OF SEVERAL OPTICAL MONOPULSE PROCESSORS WHICH WILL BE THE SUBJECT OF DETAILED ANALYSIS DURING THIS PROGRAM. THE PHASE SHIFTPROPERTIES OF CRITICAL QUASIOPTICAL COMPONENTS ARE DIRECT RESULTS OF BASIC EM THEORY, WHICH IS ONE CRUCIAL ADVANTAGE OF THIS PROPAGATION MEDIUM. THUS, THIS ASPECT OF SYSTEM PERFORMANCE CAN BE PREDICTED WITH CONFIDENCE AND NEEDN'T BE ADDRESSED IN PHASE I.