Focusing characteristics of curvilinear half-open Fresnel zone plate lenses: plane wave illumination

A diffraction field-focusing equation based on a specific conical-segment linearization procedure is derived for the Fresnel zone plate (FZP) lens of arbitrary curved profile and is applied for contrasting plane, spherical, parabolic and conical zone plate lenses, convex-side illuminated by a paraxial plane wave front. Two sets of 100-GHz curvilinear and plane FZP lenses are studied numerically with regards to their dimensions, axial focusing intensity and footprint, and frequency bandwidth. For the first set , where the curvilinear and plane lenses share a common lens base aperture and have equal focal lengths, the following new finding has resulted: regardless of their different in shape profiles the FZP lenses have equal zone numbers and produce similar axial focusing. The second set also consists of plane, spherical, parabolic and conical lenses. They share a common apex, and have equal in diameter base apertures and focal lengths but different thicknesses. For such disposition and proportions, the FZP lenses possess different zone numbers and focusing parameters (gain, efficiency, footprint and bandwidth). The belief that the curvilinear FZP have superior (or inferior) electromagnetic characteristics, compared to those of the plane FZP lens with equal number of zones is not in general true. Their relative focusing qualities can vary significantly depending on the lens positioning and dimensions.     

Optimum Design of Millimeter-Wave Double-Dielectric Fresnel Zone-Plate Lens and Antenna

The microwave/millimeter-wave Fresnel-zone plate (FZP) lenses differ substantially in construction, technology and applications from their optical analogs and require specific design equations and methods of electromagnetic analysis. In this paper, optimum design equations for double-dielectric lossless FZP lens are derived. The best and worst choices of the permittivity ratio for lossless dielectrics are discussed in detail. In addition, the influence of dielectric losses on the lens thickness for given wavelength and permittivities is examined. Two versions of a 57.5-GHz double-dielectric phase-reversal zone plate are used as focusing elements of FZP lens antenna. The antenna co-polar and cross-polar radiation patterns, aperture efficiency and frequency bandwidth are analyzed numerically and contrasted with those of half-blocked FZP and horn lens antennas.     

Use of microwave lenses in phase retrieval microwave holography of reflector antennas

The Misell (1973) phase retrieval algorithm for microwave holography requires the capability to axially move an antenna's subreflector or feed to obtain a defocused far-field magnitude pattern. A microwave lens may be used as an alternative method of defocusing an antenna. A metal plate lens has been designed and constructed for use in phase retrieval holography at the Georgia Tech Woodbury Research Facility. Its phase variation across the aperture was chosen to have a parabolic profile in order to imitate the effect of subreflector or feed translation. A two-dimensional (2-D) finite-difference time-domain simulation has been performed to characterize the lens. Measurements, using the measured aperture phase of the lens transfer function as a phase correction term in the Misell algorithm, show the results to be comparable with that of phase coherent holography. Other types of microwave lenses such as a Fresnel zone plate, a bed of circular waveguides, and a standard dielectric lens are also being studied.     

Conical Double-Dielectric Fresnel Zone Lens and Antenna

A conical double-dielectric phase-reversal Fresnel-zone plate (FZP) lens is introduced. We present the lens design equations as functions of cone opening angle. As an example, the phase-reversal lens has been applied to four millimeter-wave antennas with different lens opening semi-angles: 45deg, 60deg, and 75deg (conical lenses) and 90deg (plane lens). The radiation characteristics of these antennas have been calculated and contrasted one-to-another, and to those with the same semi-angles and linear dimensions binary (half-open) FZP lens antennas. The double-dielectric FZP conical arrangement can serve as a conical antenna lens and a radome simultaneously     

Compound Fresnel Zone Lens Conformal to Truncated Cone: Antenna Application

A millimeter wave antenna consisting of two Fresnel zone plate lenses, plane and conical, is examined numerically by use of the vector diffraction theory. The lenses are of Wood-Wiltse (double-dielectric) or Soret (half-open) type, and are designed for the frequency of 117 GHz. The lenses are made conformal to a truncated circular cone with a base diameter of 500 mm and a plateau diameter of 250 mm. Designs for two opening semi-angles, 45° and 75° each of them with a particular lens thickness are presented. For the angle of 90° the cone lens becomes a plane ring lens, which in combination with the plateau zone lens forms a plane lens of size equal to the cone base diameter. Illuminated by directive feeds set at a focal distance of 525 mm from the cone apex, the double-dielectric and half-open compound and plane lenses, form three pairs of Fresnel zone lens antennas, the co-polar and cross-polar radiation characteristics of which have been compared numerically. The double-dielectric lens antennas examined are about 5 dB superior in gain to the half-open lens antennas, which has a gain of approximately 45 dBi. Because all lenses are of equal transverse aperture, the corresponding lens antennas exhibit the same ?3 dB beamwidth of about 0.33 degrees. The plane zone lens antenna is very thin and simple. Instead, the antenna comprising a 3-D compound Fresnel zone lens is thicker but can be made conformal to a specific surface shape and possesses more levels of design and optimization freedom.     

Curvilinear Fresnel-Zone Plate Lens Antenna: Vector Radiation Theory

A generalized vector diffraction theory of the half-open curvilinear Fresnel zone plate (FZP) tens antenna that is valid for any lens profile shape is presented. It is an extension to the vector Kirchhoff diffraction theory for the plane half-open FZP lens antenna and is based on the conical-segment lens profile approximation. An equation for the electric far-field vector is derived from which follow the expressions for the co- and cross-polarization radiation patterns and directive gain. The proposed theory is utilized for a numerical analysis and comparison of 140-GHz curvilinear half-open FZP lens antennas grouped in two distinct sets:

1. (a)
   Set I: antennas with different in shape FZP lenses (plane, conical, parabolic and spherical) having the same number of zones. All eurvilinear FZP antenna lenses are designed for similar gain, co- and cross-polarization performance and bandwidth, regardless of the lens-profile.
    
2. (b)
   Set II: antennas with different in shape FZP lenses and different number of zones. Since this affects gain, polarization and bandwidth performance, to make the characteristics of these FZP lens antennas practically equal to those of Set I, antenna feeds with different gain patterns have been used.
    

     

A Comparison of the Focusing Properties of a Fresnel Zone Plate With a Doubly-Hyperbolic Lens for Application in a Free-Space, Focused-Beam Measurement System

A Fresnel zone plate is designed to perform the function of a doubly-hyperbolic lens. The focusing characteristics of the zone plate and the lens are compared using both measured data and body-of-revolution finite-difference time-domain simulations. The results from this comparison are used to evaluate the use of zone plates as focusing elements in a free-space, focused-beam measurement system. A set of two zone plates is used to perform measurements of the material properties of a dielectric sheet, and the results are compared to the results from a standard system which uses two doubly-hyperbolic lenses.      

Terahertz Switching Focuser Based on Thin Film Vanadium Dioxide Zone Plate

In this paper, we propose a switchable focuser device based on a Fresnel zone plate (FZP) structure for terahertz (THz) applications. Each FZP contains seven rings, etched in thin VO₂ film with the designed focal lengths of 50 and 100 mm for 3.7-THz frequency. Temperature-induced VO₂ phase transition leads to the change in dielectric susceptibility of the material, which allows one to switch on and off the focusing properties of the device. The devices were tested with radiation of 3.1 and 3.7 THz emitted by quantum cascade lasers. Experimental results were compared with numerical simulations. In this article, we compare the FZP based on VO₂ films with different properties and show that a thicker VO₂ film reveals higher focusing efficiency, while a thinner one reveals a higher modulation ratio for the peak intensity at the focal point of FZP. We demonstrate experimentally the near-diffraction-limited size of the beam in the focal point of the device. Switching between two phase states of the VO₂ films results in up to the 38-fold change of intensity in the focal point.     

相位阶跃变化型太赫兹波带片

对相位阶跃变化型太赫兹波带片衍射效率进行了理论研究。根据标量衍射理论,相位阶跃变化型波带片可以完成对高斯光束太赫兹波的聚焦。相位阶跃变化型波带片的衍射规律与薄透镜聚焦的规律相似。对其在光轴以及焦平面上太赫兹强度分布及衍射效率进行了模拟,通过与相位连续变化型,台阶型波带片的衍射效率进行对比分析,结果表明相位阶跃变化型波带片具有更好的衍射效率和性能。计算了一种相位阶跃变化型太赫兹波带片的加工尺寸,适合微机械加工法,有很好的应用价值。     

Resolution of Near-Field Microwave Target Detection and Imaging by Using Flat LHM Lens

It is demonstrated in this paper that higher focusing resolution will be provided by flat left-handed metamaterial (LHM) lens if compared to convex dielectric lens and elliptical reflector focusing system. High-resolution near-field microwave target detection and imaging with flat LHM lens can be implemented by scanning the focal point of the flat LHM lens in the region under detection and screening directly the field intensity distribution of backscattered microwave refocused by the flat LHM lens. Numerical simulations demonstrate that sub-wavelength imaging resolution can be obtained by the proposed approach due to the sub-wavelength focusing resolution of flat LHM lens. Moreover, almost unique imaging resolution for the detection and imaging of target at different depths is also demonstrated. For practical LHM lenses, it is shown that the losses of LHM up to the order as reported in some LHM experiments will limit the sub-wavelength resolution of the proposed approach to an acceptable level.     

Design and characterization of single- and multiple-beam mm-wavecircularly polarized substrate lens antennas for wireless communications

Single- and multiple-beam circularly polarized ellipsoidal substrate lenses suitable for millimeter-wave wireless communications have been designed, implemented, and experimentally characterized at 30 GHz. The lenses are made out of low-cost low-permittivity Rexolite material. The single-beam lens achieves a directivity of 25.9 dB, a front-to-back ratio of 30 dB, and an axial ratio of 0.5 dB is maintained within the main lobe. The measured impedance bandwidth is 12.5% within a SWR⩽1.8:1. The single-beam antenna is well suited for broad-band wireless point-to-point links. On the other hand, the multiple-beam lens launches 31 beams with a minimum 3-dB overlapping level among adjacent beams. The coverage of the lens antenna system has been optimized through the utilization of a hexagonal patch arrangement leading to a scan coverage of 45.4° with a maximum loss in directivity of 1.8 dB due to multiple reflections. The multiple-beam lens antenna is suitable for indoor point-to-multipoint wireless communications such as a broad-band local area network or as a switched beam smart antenna. During the proposed design process, some fundamental issues pertaining to substrate lens antennas are discussed and clarified. This includes the depolarization properties of the lenses, the effect of multiple internal reflections on the far-field patterns and the directivity, the nature of the far-field patterns, the estimation of the lens system F/B ratio, and the off-axis characteristics of ellipsoidal lenses     

Imaging with microwave lens

A microwave lens that is based on the principles of holography is described. It consists of a zone plate, and it has been shown theoretically and experimentally that it has the limit of resolution, which is predicted by the aperture and the wavelength used. Another experiment was performed to compare the limit of resolution of a one-dimensional one with that of a plane zone plate. Finally the lens was used in an experimental setup to image a flat object.     

Focusing properties of small lenses

The potential use of small substrate lenses for coupling to antennas at millimeter wave frequencies is investigated by analyzing the focusing properties of dielectric spheres with quarter-wave matching layers. The fields and the power density are calculated at various points within the sphere to learn how the focusing deteriorates as the lens is made smaller. The absorption loss of the lens is also calculated. The calculations show that quartz spheres with quarter-wave matching layers, can exhibit good focusing properties down to a radius of about half a free space wavelength. This minimum radius was found to increase almost linearly with the refractive index of the lens. The calculations also indicate that at 94GHz the absorption losses of fused quartz, silicon and gallium arsenide lenses, with radii of one free space wavelength or less, are less than 0.2 dB. As the minimum diameter of a quartz lens is comparable with the spot size in free space, it should be possible to build an imaging lens array in which each lens will act as a separate imaging element.     

费涅尔透镜的焦区场──谱域法与物理光学法的比较

本文分别采用传统的物理光学法（PO）和全被分析的谱域技术（SDT），分析了费涅尔区板（FZP）透镜的焦区场分布。SDT法的计算结果与文献的实验结果一致。通过对PO与SDT两种方法的数值结果比较可知：对单层FZP透镜，PO分析结果的有效性依赖于透镜的焦距与透镜的费涅尔区下限之比，而SDT则具有广泛的适应性。     

Experimental Analysis of Pseudospark Sourced Electron Beam

The pseudospark (PS) discharge has been shown to be a promising source of high brightness, high intensity electron beam pulses. The PS discharge sourced electron beam has potential applications in plasma filled microwave sources where normal material cathode cannot be used. Analysis of the electron beam profile has been done experimentally for different applied voltages. The investigation has been carried out at different axial and radial location inside the drift space in argon atmosphere. This paper represents experimentally found axial and radial variation of the beam current inside the drift tube of PS discharge based plasma cathode electron (PCE) gun. With the help of current density estimation the focusing and defocusing point of electron beam in axial direction can be analyzed.     

一种用于卫星电视接收的FZP天线

本文用物理光学法对ＦＺＰ反射器的聚焦场、聚焦效率及偏轴扫描特性等进行初步分析，并由此提出一种使用ＦＺＰ天线实现多颗卫星信号同时接收的技术方案。原理性样机实际接收结果证实了其可行性     

Design and analysis of a folded Fresnel Zone Plate antenna

Based on the Kirchhoff-Huygens diffraction theory, a simple analytical method of a planar folded Fresnel zone-plate (FZP), that is the case when a planar reflector is placed behind the zone plates, has been developed. According to the numerical calculation results, the design procedure of the FZP antenna has been presented, and its focusing characteristics and gain-optimized conditions have been discussed. The variations of the focal field distribution with the antenna parameters such as zone numbers, focal length and antenna diameter and the radiation power patterns of the FZP have been simulated numerically. To take a good balance of both receiving and transmitting antennas, at 60GHz operating frequency, the focal length should be designed as a half of the antenna diameter and the zone number should be from 10 to 15. The results in this work show that the folded FZP has good focal characteristics and off-axis performance, and its antenna gain can be optimized by the suitable antenna parameter design. The possibility of applying the folded FZP as a low cost and high gain antenna without strict manufacturing requirement for millimeter-wave communications has been shown.     

Dielectric Slab Rotman Lens for Microwave/Millimeter-Wave Applications

A new form of a Rotman lens is proposed for microwave/millimeter-wave applications such as a collision-avoidance radar. The proposed lens can be described as a dielectric slab fed by slot lines. The new form is expected to show lower loss and lower mutual coupling than the conventional Rotman lenses fabricated with conducting plates at millimeter-wave frequency. Taking the field distribution inside the dielectric slab into account, the$ TE_0$mode was chosen to excite the dielectric slab lens. The dielectric Rotman lens consists of a dielectric slab, tapered slot structure, and the transitions between the antipodal slots and microstrip lines for subminiature A connectors. The conventional design equations have been modified for use in designing the dielectric slab Rotman lens with a high dielectric material. A prototype was implemented with nine beam ports and nine array ports. Measurements from 10 to 20 GHz show that mutual coupling can be lowered at higher frequency. The obtained efficiency of the dielectric slab lens system is approximately 30%. The efficiency of the lens is comparable to that of the conducting plate lenses even though there is a spillover loss from the dielectric slab.     

用菲涅尔区板天线实现来波方向的鲁棒性估计

针对蜂窝移动通信局域散射电波传播的空间分布源模型,研究了应用菲涅尔区相位修正平面聚焦结构和馈源阵列的组合形成的一种新型多波束自适应天线．基于广义MUSIC算法及极大似然估计算法．分别实现相干及非相干的空间分布式源信号来波方向及其角度扩展参数的鲁棒性估计问题．数值仿真计算结果表明．在这一无线传播环境中,基于菲涅尔区相位修正平面聚焦结构在减小相关参数估计的RMS误差等方面,其性能优于传统的均匀直线阵列模型．因此基于该新型自适应天线．可以实现来波方向的鲁棒性估计。