Title :
Liquid crystal-based optical control of phased array antennas
Author_Institution :
General Electric Corp. Res. & Dev. Center, Schenectady, NY, USA
fDate :
12/1/1992 12:00:00 AM
Abstract :
Nematic liquid crystal (NLC) technology-based optical systems for controlling phased array antennas are presented. These systems can provide low-cost, high-quality (>6-b), phase-based antenna control for very large phased arrays (e.g. 5000 elements). An experiment demonstrating NLC-based antenna phase control is performed, with 0-3π phase shift measured for a 60-MHz carrier. A novel time-multiplexed radar beam scanning approach is introduced to counter the slow response of the NLCs, allowing fast 200 beams/s antenna scanning rates
Keywords :
antenna phased arrays; liquid crystal devices; nematic liquid crystals; telecommunications control; time division multiplexing; 60 MHz; high-quality; liquid crystal based optical control; low-cost; nematic liquid crystal technology; phase shift; phase-based antenna control; phased array antennas; time-multiplexed radar beam scanning approach; very large phased arrays; Antenna arrays; Control systems; Liquid crystals; Optical arrays; Optical control; Optical variables control; Performance evaluation; Phase control; Phased arrays; Radar antennas;
Journal_Title :
Lightwave Technology, Journal of
