20 GHZ BROAD-BAND MICROSTRIP ARRAY WITH ELECTROMAGNETICALLY COUPLED HIGH T-C SUPERCONDUCTING FEED NETWORK

The use of high-temperature superconducting (HTS) feed lines and phase shifters fan substantially improve the performance of microwave and m illimeter-wave printed phased array antennas. A novel antenna architec ture is described that provides a broadband radiating aperture to be u sed as a scanning array with compatible low loss HTS phase shifters. T he approach follows an earlier design demonstrated at 12 GHz, and this work extends the approach to 20 GHz. The antenna design, radiation pa tterns, bandwidth measurements, and thermal analysis are reported. A p rototype thermal isolator design is described that reduces the heat lo ad of coaxial interconnections between cryocooled and room temperature systems.