PHASED-ARRAY ANTENNAS BASED ON BULK PHASE-SHIFTING WITH FERROELECTRICS

A new concept for phased arrays is proposed using a voltage controlled ferroelectric lens. The ferroelectric lens concept uniquely incorpora tes bulk phase shifting; the array does not contain individual phase s hifters but rather uses ferroelectric material. This will reduce the n umber of phase shifters from (n x m) to (n + m), where n is the number of columns and m is the number of rows in a phased array. The number of phase shifter drivers and phase shifter controls is also significan tly reduced by using row-column beam steering. Thus, the ferroelectric lens concept can potentially lead to low-cost phased arrays. This pap er presents the ferroelectric lens concept, theoretical analysis and d esign, and experimental results. A brief discussion of ferroelectric m aterials is also included.