Integrated Silicon Lens Antennas at Submillimeter-wave Frequencies

Abstract

Most of submillimeter-wave instruments, especially for space applications, make use of very high gain reflector-based antennas to fulfill the desired resolution or sensitivity requirements. This chapter covers the design and the analysis of elliptical lens antennas, providing analytical formulation to synthesize the lens and compute the radiation of the lens excited by a feed. Integrated silicon lens antennas are well suited for submillimeter-wave applications because of their focusing capabilities into a planar antenna. The chapter describes the semi-hemispherical lens antenna from its synthesis to its radiation properties while comparing it with the elliptical lens. It explains the excitation of shallow lenses by leaky-wave/Fabry–Perot feeds: starting from the analysis of the leaky-wave effect and computing its propagation constant, then analyzing its radiation into an infinite medium, and finishing up with the optimization of the shallow-lens geometry. The chapter concludes with some worked examples to make the reader consolidate and reflect on the lessons learned.