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NASA NTRS2004

An exact solution for the steady state phase distribution in an array of oscillators coupled on a hexagonal lattice

When electronic oscillators are coupled to nearest neighbors to form an array on a hexagonal lattice, the planar phase distributions desired for excitation of a phased array antenna are not steady state solutions of the governing non-linear equations describing the system. Thus the steady state phase distribution deviates from planar. It is shown to be possible to obtain an exact solution for the steady state phase distribution and thus determine the deviation from the desired planar distribution as a function of beam steering angle.

injection locking↗

NASA NTRS1973

Synthesis of multiple shaped beam antenna patterns

Results are presented of research into the problem of finding an excitation of a given antenna such that the desired radiation pattern is approximated to within acceptable limits. This is to be done in such a fashion that boundary conditions involving hardware limitations may be inserted into the problem. The intended application is synthesis of multiple shaped beam antennas. Since this is perhaps the most difficult synthesis problem an antenna engineer is likely to encounter, the approach taken was to include as a by-product capability for synthesizing simpler patterns. The synthesis technique has been almost totally computerized. The class of antennas which may be synthesized with the computer program are those which may be represented as planar (continuous or discrete) current distributions. The technique is not limited in this sense and could indeed by extended to include, for example, the synthesis of conformal arrays or current distributions on the surface of reflectors. The antenna types which the program is set up to synthesize are: line source, rectangular aperture, circular aperture, linear array, rectangular array, and arbitrary planar array.

Stutzman, W. L.↗

NASA NTRS2008

Advanced Precipitation Radar Antenna to Measure Rainfall From Space

To support NASA s planned 20-year mission to provide sustained global precipitation measurement (EOS-9 Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM)), a deployable antenna has been explored with an inflatable thin-membrane structure. This design uses a 5.3 5.3-m inflatable parabolic reflector with the electronically scanned, dual-frequency phased array feeds to provide improved rainfall measurements at 2.0-km horizontal resolution over a cross-track scan range of up to 37 , necessary for resolving intense, isolated storm cells and for reducing the beam-filling and spatial sampling errors. The two matched radar beams at the two frequencies (Ku and Ka bands) will allow unambiguous retrieval of the parameters in raindrop size distribution. The antenna is inflatable, using rigidizable booms, deployable chain-link supports with prescribed curvatures, a smooth, thin-membrane reflecting surface, and an offset feed technique to achieve the precision surface tolerance (0.2 mm RMS) for meeting the low-sidelobe requirement. The cylindrical parabolic offset-feed reflector augmented with two linear phased array feeds achieves dual-frequency shared-aperture with wide-angle beam scanning and very low sidelobe level of -30 dB. Very long Ku and Ka band microstrip feed arrays incorporating a combination of parallel and series power divider lines with cosine-over-pedestal distribution also augment the sidelobe level and beam scan. This design reduces antenna mass and launch vehicle stowage volume. The Ku and Ka band feed arrays are needed to achieve the required cross-track beam scanning. To demonstrate the inflatable cylindrical reflector with two linear polarizations (V and H), and two beam directions (0deg and 30deg), each frequency band has four individual microstrip array designs. The Ku-band array has a total of 166x2 elements and the Ka-band has 166x4 elements with both bands having element spacing about 0.65 lambda(sub 0). The cylindrical reflector with offset linear array feeds reduces the complexity from "NxN" transmit/receive (T/R) modules of a conventional planar-phased array to just "N" T/R modules. The antenna uses T/R modules with electronic phase-shifters for beam steering. The offset reflector does not provide poor cross-polarization like a double- curved offset reflector would, and it allows the wide scan angle in one plane required by the mission. Also, the cylindrical reflector with two linear array feeds provides dual-frequency performance with a single, shared aperture. The aperture comprises a reflective surface with a focal length of 1.89 m and is made from aluminized Kapton film. The reflective surface is of uniform thickness in the range of a few thousandths of an inch and is attached to the chain-link support structure via an adjustable suspension system. The film aperture rolls up, together with the chain-link structure, for launch and can be deployed in space by the deployment of the chain-link structure.

Rahmat-Samii, Yahya↗

NASA NTRS1994

The 20 GHz circularly polarized, high temperature superconducting microstrip antenna array

The primary goal was to design and characterize a four-element, 20 GHz, circularly polarized microstrip patch antenna fabricated from YBa2Cu3O(x) superconductor. The purpose is to support a high temperature superconductivity flight communications experiment between the space shuttle orbiter and the ACTS satellite. This study is intended to provide information into the design, construction, and feasibility of a circularly polarized superconducting 20 GHz downlink or cross-link antenna. We have demonstrated that significant gain improvements can be realized by using superconducting materials for large corporate fed array antennas. In addition, we have shown that when constructed from superconducting materials, the efficiency, and therefore the gain, of microstrip patches increases if the substrate is not so thick that the dominant loss mechanism for the patch is radiation into the surface waves of the conductor-backed substrate. We have considered two design configurations for a superconducting 20 GHz four-element circularly polarized microstrip antenna array. The first is the Huang array that uses properly oriented and phased linearly polarized microstrip patch elements to realize a circularly polarized pattern. The second is a gap-coupled array of circularly polarized elements. In this study we determined that although the Huang array operates well on low dielectric constant substrates, its performance becomes extremely sensitive to mismatches, interelement coupling, and design imperfections for substrates with high dielectric constants. For the gap-coupled microstrip array, we were able to fabricate and test circularly polarized elements and four-element arrays on LaAlO3 using sputtered copper films. These antennas were found to perform well, with relatively good circular polarization. In addition, we realized a four-element YBa2Cu3O(x) array of the same design and measured its pattern and gain relative to a room temperature copper array. The patterns were essentially the same as that for the copper array. The measured gain of the YBCO antenna was greater than that for the room temperature copper design at temperatures below 82K, reaching a value of 3.4 dB at the lowest temperatures.

Morrow, Jarrett D.↗

NASA NTRS2015

Design of an 8-40 GHz Antenna for the Wideband Instrument for Snow Measurements (WISM)

This poster describes the implementation of a 6x6 element, dual linear polarized array with beamformer that operates from about 8-40 GHz. It is implemented using a relatively new multi-layer microfabrication process. The beamformer includes baluns that feed dual-polarized differential antenna elements and reactive splitters that cover the full frequency range of operation. This fixed beam array (FBA) serves as the feed for a multi-band instrument designed to measure snow water equivalent (SWE) from an airborne platform known as the Wideband Instrument for Snow Measurements (WISM).

8-40 GHz Antenna↗

NASA NTRS1990

Planar Microstrip Yagi Antennas

Developmental class of antennas based on combination of microstrip-patch and Yagi-array concepts. Mutual coupling between microstrip elements, ordinarily considered nuisance, used to advantage. Applicable to both linearly and circularly polarized antennas. Use of fewer driven elements results in less complexity and reduced loss of power in associated transmission lines and other coupling and power-distributing circuitry. Applications include antennas on land vehicles, television receiving antennas, and conformal antennas on aircraft.

Huang, John↗

NASA NTRS1981

A failure mechanism in adaptive arrays

The steady-state behavior of an adaptive array is considered and the degradation of its output SNR in the presence of jammers is analyzed. It is shown that for given incident powers (of jammers and signal), there are geometric configurations of the sources exciting the array for which the SNR degradation is much more pronounced than for other configurations. This result is proved for the case where the thermal noise power of each array receiver is negligible compared to the total power intercepted by the array from each jammer. The result is general, being valid for an array of n arbitrary antennae in an arbitrary three-dimensional configuration. It is stated in terms of linear dependence relationships among the n-dimensional vectors that describe the effects of the sources on the array.

Zohar, S.↗

DOE OSTI2022

Necklace-structured high-harmonic generation for low-divergence, soft x-ray harmonic combs with tunable line spacing

The extreme nonlinear optical process of high-harmonic generation (HHG) makes it possible to map the properties of a laser beam onto a radiating electron wave function and, in turn, onto the emitted x-ray light. Bright HHG beams typically emerge from a longitudinal phased distribution of atomic-scale quantum antennae. Here, we form a transverse necklace-shaped phased array of linearly polarized HHG emitters, where orbital angular momentum conservation allows us to tune the line spacing and divergence properties of extreme ultraviolet and soft x-ray high-harmonic combs. The on-axis HHG emission has extremely low divergence, well below that obtained when using Gaussian driving beams, which further decreases with harmonic order. This work provides a new degree of freedom for the design of harmonic combs—particularly in the soft x-ray regime, where very limited options are available. Such harmonic beams can enable more sensitive probes of the fastest correlated charge and spin dynamics in molecules, nanoparticles, and materials.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

NASA NTRS1973

Microstrip antennas

It is possible to design and construct simple, efficient microwave antenna, either linearly or circularly polarized, which should be useful in phased arrays. Mounted on thin dielectric substrate, it extends slightly above ground plane. Space behind ground plane is required for feed line and mounting hardware.

Howell, J. Q.↗

NASA NTRS1998

An Inflatable L-Band Microstrip SAR Array

Inflatable structures have been identified as one of the enabling technologies to achieve low mass, high packaging efficiency, and reliable deployment for future NASA spaceborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) array antennas.

L-band↗

DOE OSTI2022

Multiple-polarization-sensitive photodetector based on a perovskite metasurface

Most polarization-sensitive photodetectors detect either linearly polarized (LP) or circularly polarized (CP) light. Here, we experimentally demonstrate a multiple-polarization photodetector based on a hybrid organic–inorganic perovskite (HOIP) metasurface, which is sensitive to both LP and CP light simultaneously. The perovskite metasurface is composed of a HOIP antenna array on a single-crystal HOIP film. Owing to the antenna anisotropy, the absorption of linearly polarized light at the metasurface depends on the polarization angle; also, due to the mirror asymmetry of the antenna elements, the metasurface is also sensitive to different circular polarizations. Polarization-dependent photocurrent responses to both LP and CP light are detected. Our results highlight the potential of perovskite metasurfaces for integrated photoelectric applications.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

NASA NTRS2010

Observing Solar Radio Bursts from the Lunar Surface

Locating low frequency radio observatories on the lunar surface has a number of advantages. Here, we describe the Radio Observatory for Lunar Sortie Science (ROLSS), a concept for a low frequency, radio imaging interferometric array designed to study particle acceleration in the corona and inner heliosphere. ROLSS would be deployed during an early lunar sortie or by a robotic rover as part of an unmanned landing. The prime science mission is to image type II and type III solar radio bursts with the aim of determining the sites at and mechanisms by which the radiating particles are accelerated. Secondary science goals include constraining the density of the lunar ionosphere by searching for a low radio frequency cutoff of the solar radio emissions and constraining the low energy electron population in astrophysical sources. Furthermore, ROLSS serves a pathfinder function for larger lunar radio arrays. Key design requirements on ROLES include the operational frequency and angular resolution. The electron densities in the solar corona and inner heliosphere are such that the relevant emission occurs below 10 MHz, essentially unobservable from Earth's surface due to the terrestrial ionospheric cutoff. Resolving the potential sites of particle acceleration requires an instrument with an angular resolution of at least 2 deg, equivalent to a linear array size of approximately 500 meters. Operations would consist of data acquisition during the lunar day, with regular data downlinks. The major components of the ROLSS array are 3 antenna arms arranged in a Y shape, with a central electronics package (CEP). Each antenna arm is a linear strip of polyimide film (e.g., Kapton (TM)) on which 16 single polarization dipole antennas are located by depositing a conductor (e.g., silver). The arms also contain transmission lines for carrying the radio signals from the science antennas to the CEP.

MacDowall, R. J.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Analysis of microstrip dipoles and slots transversely coupled to a microstrip line using the FDTD method

Printed dipole elements and their complement, linear slots, are elementary radiators that have found use in low-profile antenna arrays. Low-profile antenna arrays, in addition to their small size and low weight characteristics, offer the potential advantage of low-cost, high-volume production with easy integration with active integrated circuit components. The design of such arrays requires that the radiation and impedance characteristics of the radiating elements be known. The FDTD (Finite-Difference Time-Domain) method is a general, straight-forward implementation of Maxwell's equations and offers a relatively simple way of analyzing both printed dipole and slot elements. Investigated in this work is the application of the FDTD method to the analysis of printed dipole and slot elements transversely coupled to an infinite transmission line in a multilayered configuration. Such dipole and slot elements may be used in dipole and slot series-fed-type linear arrays, where element offsets and interelement line lengths are used to obtain the desired amplitude distribution and beam direction, respectively. The design of such arrays is achieved using transmission line theory with equivalent circuit models for the radiating elements. In an equivalent circuit model, the dipole represents a shunt impedance to the transmission line, where the impedance is a function of dipole offset, length, and width. Similarly, the slot represents a series impedance to the transmission line. The FDTD method is applied to single dipole and slot elements transversely coupled to an infinite microstrip line using a fixed rectangular grid with Mur's second order absorbing boundary conditions. Frequency-dependent circuit and scattering parameters are obtained by saving desired time-domain quantities and using the Fourier transform. A Gaussian pulse excitation is applied to the microstrip transmission line, where the resulting reflected signal due to the presence of the radiating element is used to determine the equivalent element impedance.

Tulintseff, A. N.↗

NASA NTRS2004

Suspended-Patch Antenna With Inverted, EM-Coupled Feed

An improved suspended-patch antenna has been designed to operate at a frequency of about 23 GHz with linear polarization and to be one of four identical antennas in a rectangular array. The antenna includes a parasitic patch on top of a suspended dielectric superstrate, an active patch on top of a suspended dielectric substrate, a microstrip on the bottom of the dielectric substrate, and a ground plane. The microstrip, the ground plane, the airgap between them, and the dielectric substrate together constitute a transmission line that has an impedance of 50 Ohm and is electromagnetically (EM) coupled to the active patch. The parasitic patch is, in turn, excited by the active patch. The microstrip feed is characterized as inverted because the microstrip is on the bottom of the substrate, whereas microstrips are usually placed on the tops of dielectric substrates

Simons, Rainee N.↗

NASA NTRS1998

Orthogonal feeding techniques for tapered slot antennas

For array of "brick" configuration there are electrical and mechanical advantages to feed the antenna with a feed on a substrate perpendicular to the antenna substrate. Different techniques have been proposed for exciting patch antennas using such a feed structure.Rncently, an aperture-coupled dielectric resonator antenna using a perpendicular feed substrate has been demonstrated to have very good power coupling efficiency. For a two-dimensional rectangular array with tapered slot antenna elements, a power combining network on perpendicular substrate is generally required to couple power to or from the array. In this paper, we will describe two aperture-coupled techniques for coupling microwave power from a linearly tapered slot antenna (LTSA) to a microstrip feed on a perpendicular substrate. In addition, we will present measured results for return losses and radiation patterns.

Lee, Richard Q.↗

NASA NTRS2007

Array Phase Shifters: Theory and Technology

While there are a myriad of applications for microwave phase shifters in instrumentation and metrology, power combining, amplifier linearization, and so on, the most prevalent use is in scanning phased-array antennas. And while this market continues to be dominated by military radar and tracking platforms, many commercial applications have emerged in the past decade or so. These new and potential applications span low-Earth-orbit (LEO) communications satellite constellations and collision warning radar, an aspect of the Intelligent Vehicle Highway System or Automated Highway System. In any case, the phase shifters represent a considerable portion of the overall antenna cost, with some estimates approaching 40 percent for receive arrays. Ferrite phase shifters continue to be the workhorse in military-phased arrays, and while there have been advances in thin film ferrite devices, the review of this device technology in the previous edition of this book is still highly relevant. This chapter will focus on three types of phase shifters that have matured in the past decade: GaAs MESFET monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC), micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS), and thin film ferroelectric-based devices. A brief review of some novel devices including thin film ferrite phase shifters and superconducting switches for phase shifter applications will be provided. Finally, the effects of modulo 2 phase shift limitations, phase errors, and transient response on bit error rate degradation will be considered.

Romanofsky, Robert R.↗

NASA NTRS1978

Design of microstrip disk antenna arrays

The radio frequency characteristics and design parameters for microstrip disk antenna elements and planar arrays are presented. Two C-band model arrays (an 8 element linear and an 8 by 8 planar) were designed, fabricated, and tested to demonstrate the technique of using microstrip elements for array applications. These arrays were designed with a cosine amplitude distribution.

Bailey, M. C.↗

NASA NTRS1983

Polarized-interferometer feasibility study

The feasibility of using a polarized-interferometer system as a rendezvous and docking sensor for two cooperating spacecraft was studied. The polarized interferometer is a radio frequency system for long range, real time determination of relative position and attitude. Range is determined by round trip signal timing. Direction is determined by radio interferometry. Relative roll is determined from signal polarization. Each spacecraft is equipped with a transponder and an antenna array. The antenna arrays consist of four crossed dipoles that can transmit or receive either circularly or linearly polarized signals. The active spacecraft is equipped with a sophisticated transponder and makes all measurements. The transponder on the passive spacecraft is a relatively simple repeater. An initialization algorithm is developed to estimate position and attitude without any a priori information. A tracking algorithm based upon minimum variance linear estimators is also developed. Techniques to simplify the transponder on the passive spacecraft are investigated and a suitable configuration is determined. A multiple carrier CW signal format is selected. The dependence of range accuracy and ambiguity resolution error probability are derived and used to design a candidate system. The validity of the design and the feasibility of the polarized interferometer concept are verified by simulation.

Raab, F. H.↗