Fully printed phased-array antenna for space communications

Abstract

We present a flexible active 2-bit 2-element phased-array antenna (PAA) fully fabricated using ink-jet printing technology. High speed carbon nanotube (CNT) based field effect transistors (FETs) function as switch in the true-time delay line of the PAA. The 2-bit 2-element active PAA is printed out at room temperature on 100μm thick Kapton substrate. The FET switch works well for 5GHz RF signals. An ON-OFF ratio of over 100 is obtained at a low Vds bias of 1.8V. The measured azimuth beamsteering angles of PAA agree well with simulation values.

Printable Materials for the Realization of High Performance RF Components: Challenges and Opportunities

“…Printed, flexible, and conformal-phased array antennas have also emerged, which are becoming increasingly popular for radar communications [94,119,120]. These antennas utilize printed CNT thin film transistors and multilayer interconnects to generate a fully packaged system that allows nonmechanical beam steering with an 8.2 dB insertion loss and 11.2 mW power consumption operating at 5 GHz.…”

Quasi-single-sideband radio over fiber transmission with a polymer-based waveguide microring resonator

“…2,3 Generally speaking, the majority of MPFs have been implemented with commercially available discrete components such as single mode fibers (SMFs), couplers, fiber Bragg gratings, and one or more optical sources. 1,2 In contrast to discrete components, integrated waveguide MPFs have the potential to bring down volume, weight, and power consumption of signal processing equipments, 4 which is essentially important in aircraft and space satellite communication systems, [5][6][7] especially if integration with electro-optical modulators (EOMs) and photodetectors (PDs) is possible.…”

Printed planar tunable composite right/left‐handed leaky‐wave antenna based on a tunable polymer‐BST substrate

“…Printed electronics can be involved in many novel capabilities and future devices in various areas related to wearable and stretchable devices, 1,2 roll-up displays, 3,4 identifications tagging (RFID), [5][6][7] biological sensors, 8 and RF and microwave antennas. [9][10][11][12] Developing printed reconfigurable RF and MW applications is achievable by generating tunable components compatible with the printed electronics environment.…”