Title :
A liquid-crystal optoelectronic phased array beam forming network
Author :
Kobayashi, Osamu ; Ogawa, Hiroyo
Author_Institution :
NTT Wireless Syst. Lab., Kanagawa, Japan
Abstract :
An optoelectronic beam forming network (BFN) is presented for a 3-element phased array antenna that utilizes electrically controllable birefringence mode nematic liquid-crystal cells (ECB mode NLC cells) for phase shifting and amplitude control. In the circuit, a microwave signal is carried by a pair of orthogonal linearly polarized lightwaves (signal and reference lightwaves) using the optical heterodyning technique. A prototype circuit is built and its performance experimentally examined. With small deviations among the three cells, phase shifts of up to 240 degrees are achieved for microwave signals from 0.9 GHz to 20 GHz with good stability; attenuation of more than 18 dB was achieved
Keywords :
active antenna arrays; antenna feeds; antenna phased arrays; birefringence; light polarisation; liquid crystal devices; microwave antenna arrays; multibeam antennas; nematic liquid crystals; optoelectronic devices; satellite antennas; 0.9 to 20 GHz; ECB mode NLC cells; SHF; UHF; amplitude control; attenuation; electrically controllable birefringence mode; liquid crystal optoelectronic beamforming network; microwave signals; multiple satellite antennas; nematic liquid-crystal cells; optical heterodyning technique; orthogonal linearly polarized lightwaves; performance; phase shifting; phased array antenna; phased array beamforming network; prototype circuit; reference lightwaves; stability; Antenna arrays; Birefringence; Circuit stability; Microwave circuits; Microwave theory and techniques; Optical attenuators; Optical mixing; Optical polarization; Phased arrays; Prototypes;
Conference_Titel :
Signals, Systems, and Electronics, 1995. ISSSE '95, Proceedings., 1995 URSI International Symposium on
Conference_Location :
San Francisco
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-2516-8
DOI :
10.1109/ISSSE.1995.497924
