Optical steering of a phased-array antenna based on fast delay-line switches

A kind of architecture of optical steering of a phased‐array antenna (PAA) based on a fast optical delay‐line switch is proposed and experimentally studied. A 4‐bit fast optical delay‐line switch with switching speed of less than 30 μs is constructed using cascaded solid‐state optical switches. A di...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Microwave and optical technology letters 2006-07, Vol.48 (7), p.1449-1452
Main Authors: Jin, Xiaofeng, Liu, Juan, Liu, Xiaomin, Zhang, Xianmin
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
optical delay lines
phased-array antenna
solid-state switch
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Summary:A kind of architecture of optical steering of a phased‐array antenna (PAA) based on a fast optical delay‐line switch is proposed and experimentally studied. A 4‐bit fast optical delay‐line switch with switching speed of less than 30 μs is constructed using cascaded solid‐state optical switches. A distributed feedback laser integrated with electro‐absorption modulator is employed for radio‐frequency feeding and delivery. Our experimental system of transporting X‐band microwave signals over one antenna element shows a signal‐to‐noise ratio better than 55 dB and low crosstalk of less than −50 dB. The structure features a compact design, a low‐cost solution, a fast tilting speed, and true‐time‐delay beam steering. The proposed scheme of optical steering is very promising for wideband X‐band PAA applications. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 48: 1449–1452, 2006; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.21631
ISSN:0895-2477
1098-2760
DOI:10.1002/mop.21631