UWB Antenna Array with Autonomous Scanning Capability Using Integrated Opto-Electronic Feeding Device

Abstract : The originality of the radiation source presented here is localized in its ultrafast speed and its autonomy of scanning a large spatial area. That behavior is obtained by means of a trigger mode of radiation perfectly controlled by a single optical source. The transmitter consists of a powerful picoseconds laser, an optical power divider and n optoelectronic ultra-wideband radiation sources which produce several electric pulse trains with a repetition rate slightly different one with each other. Each train is then addressed toward a single antenna. When transmitted the electromagnetic waves interact to produce an ultrafast orientation of the array emission lobe allowing scanning of large spatial field in less than 1μs.