Phased reflector array and an antenna including such an array

Claim 2

Apparatus for intercepting incident electromagnetic wave energy with a given wavelength and reflecting such wave energy with a controlled direction, comprising conductive means for forming a ground plane, a semiconductive wafer having a front and a back surface supported on the ground plane with its back surface adjacent the conductive means, an array of separate dipoles each having two legs and arranged on said front surface along regularly spaced rows and columns, the legs of each dipole being parallel to said columns and the distance between adjacent rows and between adjacent columns being of the order of half said wavelength, a plurality of conductive strips disposed on said front surface of the semiconductive wafer and parallel to said rows, one of the two legs of each of the dipoles aligned along a given row being electrically connected to one another by one of said strips and formed in said one strip, the other of the legs of each of said dipoles aligned along said given row being electrically connected to one another by an adjacent strip and formed in said adjacent strip, a plurality of junction diodes, at least one being connected between the two legs of each separate dipole, and biasing means, connected to each of said diodes through said conductive strips, for applying to said diodes a biasing voltage for controlling the reactive impedance of said diodes between a short-circuit value and a value matched to said incident electromagnetic wave energy, thereby controlling the amount of said incident electromagnetic wave energy reflected by the respective dipole associated with a respective diode from a maximal value to a minimal value, respectively, the portion of the incident electromagnetic wave energy not reflected by said respective dipole being transmitted to the ground plane and then reflected by said ground plane after impinging it, the portion of the incident electromagnetic energy reflected by said respective dipole and the portion thereof reflected by said ground plane combining together in an electromagnetic wave locally exhibiting a controlled variable phase shift depending on the relative amount of the respectively reflected portions.

Claim 3

Apparatus in accordance with claim 1 in which the junction diodes are PIN diodes formed by localized p-type and n-type regions in the semiconductive wafer.

Claim 4

Apparatus in accordance with claim 1 in which the conductive strips are spaced from the ground plane about a quarter wave length of the wave length of the electromagnetic wave energy.

Claim 5

Apparatus as in claim 1 in which the conductive means forming the ground plane is on the back surface of the semiconductive wafer.

Claim 6

Apparatus as in claim 1 wherein there is included dielectric material between the back surface of the semiconductive wafer and the conductive means forming the ground plane.

Claim 7

Apparatus in accordance with claim 1 in which each of the conductive strips is divided into segments and adjacent segments of each strip are interconnected by resistive means deposited on said semiconductive wafer.

Claim 8

Apparatus for intercepting incident electromagnetic wave energy with a given wavelength reflecting such wave energy with a controlled direction, comprising conductive means for forming a ground plane, a semiconductive wafer having a front and a back surface supported on the ground plane with its back surface adjacent the conductive means, an array of separate dipoles each having two legs and arranged on said front surface along regularly spaced rows and columns, the legs of each dipole being parallel to said columns and the distance between adjacent rows and between adjacent columns being of the order of half said wavelength, a plurality of conductive strips disposed on said front surface of the semiconductive wafer and parallel to said rows, one of the two legs of certain groups of the dipoles aligned along a given row being electrically connected to certain groups of the dipoles by one of said strips and formed in said one strip, the other of the legs of certain groups of said dipoles aligned along said given row being electrically connected to certain groups of the dipoles by an adjacent strip and formed in said adjacent strip, a plurality of junction diodes, at least one being connected between the two legs of each separate dipole, and biasing means, connected to each of said diodes through said conductive strips, for applying to said diodes a biasing voltage for controlling the reactive impedance of said diodes between a short-circuit value and a value matched to said incident electromagnetic wave energy, thereby controlling the amount of said incident electromagnetic wave energy reflected by the respective dipole associated with a respective diode from a maximal value to a minimal value, respectively, the portion of the incident electromagnetic wave energy not reflected by said respective dipole being transmitted to the ground plane and then reflected by said ground plane after impinging it, the portion of the incident electromagnetic energy reflected by said respective dipole and the portion thereof reflected by said ground plane combining together in an electromagnetic wave locally exhibiting a controlled variable phase shift depending on the relative amount of the respectively reflected portions wherein each of said conductive strips is divided into a plurality of discrete segments so that the diodes may be biased whereby the direction of the radiated electromagnetic wave energy may be controlled.

Claim 9

Apparatus for intercepting incident electromagnetic wave energy with a given wavelength reflecting such wave energy with a controlled direction, comprising conductive means for forming a ground plane, a semiconductive wafer having a front and a back surface supported on the ground plane with its back surface adjacent the conductive means, an array of separate dipoles each having two legs and arranged on said front surface along regularly spaced rows and columns, the legs of each dipole being parallel to said columns and the distance between adjacent rows and between adjacent columns being of the order of half said wavelength, a plurality of conductive strips disposed on said front surface of the semiconductive wafer and parallel to said rows, one of the two legs of certain groups of the dipoles aligned along a given row being electrically connected to certain groups of the dipoles by one of said strips and formed in said one strip, the other of the legs of certain groups of said dipoles aligned along said given row being electrically connected to certain groups of the dipoles by an adjacent strip and formed in said adjacent strip, a plurality of junction diodes, at least one being connected between the two legs of each separate dipole, and biasing means, connected to each of said diodes through said conductive strips, for applying to said diodes a biasing voltage for controlling the reactive impedance of said diodes between a short-circuit value and a value matched to said incident electromagnetic wave energy, thereby controlling the amount of said incident electromagnetic wave energy reflected by the respective dipole associated with a respective diode from a maximal value to a minimal value, respectively, the portion of the incident electromagnetic wave energy not reflected by said respective dipole being transmitted to the ground plane and then reflected by said ground plane after impinging it, the portion of the incident electromagnetic energy reflected by said respective dipole and the portion thereof reflected by said ground plane combining together in an electromagnetic wave locally exhibiting a controlled variable phase shift depending on the relative amount of the respectively reflected portions wherein each of said conductive strips is divided into a plurality of discrete segments so that the diodes may be biased whereby the direction of the radiated electromagnetic wave energy may be controlled.

Claim 10

Apparatus for intercepting incident electromagnetic wave energy with a given wavelength and reflecting such wave energy with a controlled direction, comprising conductive means for forming a ground plane, a semiconductive wafer having a front and a front and back surface supported on the ground plane with its back surface adjacent the conductive means, an array of separate dipoles each having two legs and arranged on said front surface along regularly spaced rows and columns, the legs of each dipole being parallel to said columns and the distance between adjacent rows and between adjacent columns being of the order of half said wavelength, a plurality of conductive strips disposed on said front surface of the semiconductive wafer and parallel to said rows, one of the two legs of certain groups each of the dipoles aligned along a given row being electrically connected to certain groups of the dipoles by one of said strips and formed in said one strip, the other of the legs of certain groups of said dipoles aligned along said given row being electrically connected to certain groups of the dipoles by an adjacent strip and formed in said adjacent strip, a plurality of junction diodes, at least one being connected between the two legs of each separate dipole, and biasing means, connected to each of said diodes through said conductive strips, for applying to said diodes a biasing voltage for controlling the reactive impedance of said diodes between a short-circuit value and a value matched to said incident electromagnetic wave energy thereby controlling the amount of said incident electromagnetic wave energy reflected by the respective dipole associated with a respective diode from a maximal value to a minimal value, respectively, the portion of the incident electromagnetic wave energy not reflected by said respective dipole being transmitted to the ground plane and then reflected by said ground plane after impinging it, the portion of the incident electromagnetic energy reflected by said respective dipole and the portion thereof reflected by said ground plane combining together in an electromagnetic wave locally exhibiting a controlled, variable phase shift depending on the relative amount of the respectively reflected portions, in which each of the plurality of conductive strips is divided into discrete segments and segments of adjacent pairs of said strips are connected in series by diodes.

Claim 11

Apparatus for intercepting incident electromagnetic wave energy with a given wavelength and reflecting such wave energy with a controlled direction, comprising conductive means for forming a ground plane, a semiconductive wafer having a front and a front and back surface supported on the ground plane with its back surface adjacent the conductive means, an array of separate dipoles each having two legs and arranged on said front surface along regularly spaced rows and columns, the legs of each dipole being parallel to said columns and the distance between adjacent rows and between adjacent columns being of the order of half said wavelength, a plurality of conductive strips disposed on said front surface of the semiconductive wafer and parallel to said rows, one of the two legs of certain groups each of the dipoles aligned along a given row being electrically connected to certain groups of the dipoles by one of said strips and formed in said one strip, the other of the legs of certain groups of said dipoles aligned along said given row being electrically connected to certain groups of the dipoles by an adjacent strip and formed in said adjacent strip, a plurality of junction diodes, at least one being connected between the two legs of each separate dipole, and biasing means, connected to each of said diodes through said conductive strips, for applying to said diodes a biasing voltage for controlling the reactive impedance of said diodes between a short-circuit value and a value matched to said incident electromagnetic wave energy thereby controlling the amount of said incident electromagnetic wave energy reflected by the respective dipole associated with a respective diode from a maximal value to a minimal value, respectively, the portion of the incident electromagnetic wave energy not reflected by said respective dipole being transmitted to the ground plane and then reflected by said ground plane after impinging it, the portion of the incident electromagnetic energy reflected by said respective dipole and the portion thereof reflected by said ground plane combining together in an electromagnetic wave locally exhibiting a controlled, variable phase shift depending on the relative amount of the respectively reflected portions, in which each of the plurality of conductive strips is divided into discrete segments and segments of adjacent pairs of said strips are connected in series by diodes.

Claim 12

Apparatus for intercepting incident electromagnetic wave energy with a given wavelength and reflecting such wave energy with a controlled direction, comprising conductive means for forming a ground plane, a semiconductive wafer having a front and a back surface supported on the ground plane with its back surface adjacent the conductive means, an array of separate dipoles each having two legs and arranged on said front surface along regularly spaced rows and columns, the legs of each dipole being parallel to said columns and the distance between adjacent rows and between adjacent columns being of the order of half said wavelength, a plurality of conductive strips disposed on said front surface of the semiconductive wafer and parallel to said rows, one of the two legs of certain groups of the dipoles aligned along a given row being electrically connected to certain groups of the dipoles by one of said strips and formed in said one strip, the other of the legs of certain groups of said dipoles aligned along said given row being electrically connected to certain groups of the dipoles by an adjacent strip and formed in said adjacent strip, a plurality of junction diodes, at least one being connected between the two legs of each separate dipole, and biasing means, connected to each of said diodes through said conductive strip, for applying to said diodes a biasing voltage for controlling the reactive impedance of said diodes between a short-circuit value and a value matched to said incident electromagnetic wave energy, thereby controlling the amount of said incident electromagnetic wave energy reflected by the respective dipole associated with a respective from a maximal value to a minimal value, respectively, the portion of the incident electromagnetic wave energy not reflected by said respective dipole being transmitted to the ground plane and then reflected by said ground plane after impinging it the portion of the incident electromagnetic energy reflected by said respective dipole and the portion thereof reflected by said ground plane combining together in an electromagnetic wave locally exhibiting a controlled variable phase shift depending on the relative amount of the respectively reflected portions, in which each of the plurality of conductive strips is divided into discrete segments and segments of adjacent pairs of said strips are interconnected by groups of diodes in parallel.

Claim 13

Apparatus for intercepting incident electromagnetic wave energy with a given wavelength and reflecting such wave energy with a controlled direction, comprising conductive means for forming a ground plane, a semiconductive wafer having a front and a back surface supported on the ground plane with its back surface adjacent the conductive means, an array of separate dipoles each having two legs and arranged on said front surface along regularly spaced rows and columns, the legs of each dipole being parallel to said columns and the distance between adjacent rows and between adjacent columns being of the order of half said wavelength, a plurality of conductive strips disposed on said front surface of the semiconductive wafer and parallel to said rows, one of the two legs of certain groups of the dipoles aligned along a given row being electrically connected to certain groups of the dipoles by one of said strips and formed in said one strip, the other of the legs of certain groups of said dipoles aligned along said given row being electrically connected to certain groups of the dipoles by an adjacent strip and formed in said adjacent strip, a plurality of junction diodes, at least one being connected between the two legs of each separate dipole, and biasing means, connected to each of said diodes through said conductive strip, for applying to said diodes a biasing voltage for controlling the reactive impedance of said diodes between a short-circuit value and a value matched to said incident electromagnetic wave energy, thereby controlling the amount of said incident electromagnetic wave energy reflected by the respective dipole associated with a respective from a maximal value to a minimal value, respectively, the portion of the incident electromagnetic wave energy not reflected by said respective dipole being transmitted to the ground plane and then reflected by said ground plane after impinging it the portion of the incident electromagnetic energy reflected by said respective dipole and the portion thereof reflected by said ground plane combining together in an electromagnetic wave locally exhibiting a controlled variable phase shift depending on the relative amount of the respectively reflected portions, in which each of the plurality of conductive strips is divided into discrete segments and segments of adjacent pairs of said strips are interconnected by groups of diodes in parallel.

Claim 14

An antenna comprising a primary radiation source with a given wavelength, and a reflector in the path of the radiation from said source for redirecting the radiation, said reflector comprising conductive means forming a ground plane, a semiconductive wafer having front and back surfaces, said back surface being supported on the ground plane, an array of separate dipoles each having two legs and arranged on said front surface along regularly spaced rows and columns, the legs of each dipole being parallel to asid columns and the distance between adjacent rows and between adjacent columns being of the order of half said wavelength, a plurality of conductive strips disposed on said front surface of the semiconductive wafer and parallel to said rows, one of the two legs of each of the dipoles aligned along a given row being electrically connected to one another by one of said strips and formed in said one strip, the other of the legs of each of said dipoles aligned along said given row being electrically connected to one another by an adjacent strip and formed in said adjacent strip. a plurality of junction diodes, at least one being connected between the two legs of each separate dipole and biasing means, connected to each of said diodes through said conductive strips, for applying to said diodes a biasing voltage for controlling the reactive impedance of said diodes between a short-circuit value and a value matched to said radiation thereby controlling the amount of said radiation reflected by the respective dipole associated with a respective diode from a maximal value to a minimal value, respectively, the portion of the radiation not reflected by said respective dipole being transmitted to the ground plane and then reflected by said ground plane after impinging it, the portion of the radiation reflected by said respective dipole and the portion thereof reflected by said ground plane combining together in an electromagnetic wave locally exhibiting a controlled, variable phase shift depending on the relative amount of the respectively reflected portions.

Claim 15

An antenna comprising a primary radiation source with a given wavelength, and a reflector in the path of the radiation from said source for redirecting the radiation, said reflector comprising conductive means forming a ground plane, a semiconductive wafer having front and back surfaces, said back surface being supported on the ground plane, an array of separate dipoles each having two legs and arranged on said front surface along regularly spaced rows and columns, the legs of each dipole being parallel to asid columns and the distance between adjacent rows and between adjacent columns being of the order of half said wavelength, a plurality of conductive strips disposed on said front surface of the semiconductive wafer and parallel to said rows, one of the two legs of each of the dipoles aligned along a given row being electrically connected to one another by one of said strips and formed in said one strip, the other of the legs of each of said dipoles aligned along said given row being electrically connected to one another by an adjacent strip and formed in said adjacent strip. a plurality of junction diodes, at least one being connected between the two legs of each separate dipole and biasing means, connected to each of said diodes through said conductive strips, for applying to said diodes a biasing voltage for controlling the reactive impedance of said diodes between a short-circuit value and a value matched to said radiation thereby controlling the amount of said radiation reflected by the respective dipole associated with a respective diode from a maximal value to a minimal value, respectively, the portion of the radiation not reflected by said respective dipole being transmitted to the ground plane and then reflected by said ground plane after impinging it, the portion of the radiation reflected by said respective dipole and the portion thereof reflected by said ground plane combining together in an electromagnetic wave locally exhibiting a controlled, variable phase shift depending on the relative amount of the respectively reflected portions.

Claim 16

An antenna as in claim 10 that also includes a dielectric lens for focussing said radiation.

Claim 17

An antenna having a radiation source with a given wavelength, a main mirror, and phased array apparatus for varying the position of focus of the main mirror comprising conductive means forming a ground plane, a semiconductive wafer having front and back surfaces, said back surface being supported on the ground plane, an array of separate dipoles each having two legs and arranged on said front surface along regularly spaced rows and columns, the legs of each dipole being parallel to said columns and the distance between adjacent rows and between adjacent columns being of the order of half said wavelength. a plurality of conductive strips disposed on said front surface of the semiconductive wafer and parallel to said rows, one of the two legs of each of the dipoles aligned along a given row being electrically connected to one another by one of said strips and formed in said one strip, the other of the legs of each of said dipoles aligned along said given row being electrically connected to one another by an adjacent strip and formed in said adjacent strip. a plurality of junction diodes at least one being connected between the two legs of each separate dipole, and biasing means, connected to each of said diodes through said conductive strips, for applying to said diodes a biasing voltage for controlling the reactive impedance of said diodes between a short-circuit value and a value matched to incident electromagnetic wave energy thereby controlling the amount of said incident electromagnetic wave energy reflected by the respective dipole associated with a respective diode from a maximal value to a minimal value, respectively, the portion of the incident electromagnetic wave energy not reflected by said respective dipole being transmitted to the ground plane and then reflected by said ground plane after impinging it, the portion of the incident electromagnetic energy reflected by said respective dipole and the portion thereof reflected by said ground plane combining together in an electromagnetic wave locally exhibiting a controlled, variable phase shift depending on the relative amount of the respectively reflected portions.

Claim 18

An antenna having a radiation source with a given wavelength, a main mirror, and phased array apparatus for varying the position of focus of the main mirror comprising conductive means forming a ground plane, a semiconductive wafer having front and back surfaces, said back surface being supported on the ground plane, an array of separate dipoles each having two legs and arranged on said front surface along regularly spaced rows and columns, the legs of each dipole being parallel to said columns and the distance between adjacent rows and between adjacent columns being of the order of half said wavelength. a plurality of conductive strips disposed on said front surface of the semiconductive wafer and parallel to said rows, one of the two legs of each of the dipoles aligned along a given row being electrically connected to one another by one of said strips and formed in said one strip, the other of the legs of each of said dipoles aligned along said given row being electrically connected to one another by an adjacent strip and formed in said adjacent strip. a plurality of junction diodes at least one being connected between the two legs of each separate dipole, and biasing means, connected to each of said diodes through said conductive strips, for applying to said diodes a biasing voltage for controlling the reactive impedance of said diodes between a short-circuit value and a value matched to incident electromagnetic wave energy thereby controlling the amount of said incident electromagnetic wave energy reflected by the respective dipole associated with a respective diode from a maximal value to a minimal value, respectively, the portion of the incident electromagnetic wave energy not reflected by said respective dipole being transmitted to the ground plane and then reflected by said ground plane after impinging it, the portion of the incident electromagnetic energy reflected by said respective dipole and the portion thereof reflected by said ground plane combining together in an electromagnetic wave locally exhibiting a controlled, variable phase shift depending on the relative amount of the respectively reflected portions.

Claim 19

An antenna as in claim 12 wherein said biasing means biases the diodes to vary the focus along a circular path.

Claim 20

Apparatus in accordance with claim 12 in which the dipoles are sized and spaced for operation with millimeter waves.