A Submillimeter-Wave FMCW Pulse-Doppler Radar to Characterize the Dynamics of Particle Clouds

Abstract

<p>This work presents a 340-GHz frequency-modulated continuous-wave (FMCW) pulse-Doppler radar. The radar system is based on a transceiver module with about one milli-Watt output power and more than 30-GHz bandwidth. The front-end optics consists of an off-axis parabola fed by a horn antenna from the transceiver unit, resulting in a collimated radar beam. The digital radar waveform generation allows for coherent and arbitrary FMCW pulse waveforms. The performance in terms of sensitivity and resolution (range/cross-range/velocity) is demonstrated, and the system's ability to detect and map single particles (0.1–10 mm diameter), as well as clouds of particles, at a 5-m distance, is presented. A range resolution of 1 cm and a cross-range resolution of a few centimeters (3-dB beam-width) allow for the characterization of the dynamics of particle clouds with a measurement voxel size of a few cubic centimeters. The monitoring of particle dynamics is of interest in several industrial applications, such as in the manufacturing of pharmaceuticals and the control/analysis of fluidized bed combustion reactors.</p>

A 335–407-GHz SiGe-Based Subharmonic Mixer Using a Fully Integrated LO Generation

“…Furthermore, the detection of tiny particles [6], [7] and the classification of materials, either solid [8] or gaseous [9], is enhanced by the use of THz signals. Finally, THz radiation offers significant advantages in medical [10], [11] and security [12], [13] applications.…”