RF Photonics for Phased-Arrays
Abstract
The initial goals of this project were to examine and develop practical photonic technologies suitable for shared aperture phased array environments. This effort resulted in an integrated optically variable capacitor (OVC) technology which can be implemented in a variety of RF circuit and radiating structures for optical control. This technology was developed using monolithic GaAs based photovoltaic devices and varactors developed at UCSB. A novel integration scheme and circuit were successfully developed and demonstrated in several RF circuits (tunable filters and phase shifters) and antennas (planar folded slot structures). An especially attractive feature of the technology is the extremely low optical power requirement; the tunable circuits were all controlled with less then 1 mW of optical power, in some cases less than 500 micro-W. In addition, the indirect nature of the optical control allows for the independent development and optimization of the optical and RF circuits, allowing for improved performance in both the optical and RF regimes, and also making the technology amenable to retrofitting. The resulting technology is well suited to control of shared aperture systems where the attractive features of optical control (light weight, low transmission loss, high speed, high isolation, microwave transparency, and immunity to EMI) are required.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 31, 1999
- Accession Number
- ADA369808
Entities
People
- Robert York
Organizations
- University of California, Santa Barbara