Dielectric resonator antenna phased array with liquid crystal based phase shifters

The work presents for the first time a combination of liquid crystal phase shifter technology and dielectric resonator antenna, in an array configuration. The electromagnetic energy is coupled into the rectangular dielectric resonator from the slots in the ground plane which is then radiated from the top face of the dielectric resonator antennas. The antenna consists of 4×1 dielectric resonators as radiating elements, which have been constructed from bulk-glass ceramic material with permittivity of ϵ_r=22 and tanδ=0.005. The phase shifters are implemented in inverted microstrip line topology by filling liquid crystal between two borosilicate glass substrates (ϵ_r=2.4, tan<;5=0.006). Reflection loss data measured with network analyzer and radiation characteristics for different beam directions measured in anechoic chamber are presented and discussed here.