Ray-tracing modeling for submillimeters

Fast developing sub-millimeter wavelength technologies sparked off interest of the microwave community to the applicability of the optical methods for sub-millimeter system design, specifically, for aberration minimization. Both, either sphere in optics, or parabola in microwaves, need aberration correction to get the high-quality imaging in the wide-angle scanning mode. In the prototype for modification according to the results of our modeling, horizontal direction of scanning is used. Linear detector array is configured in three columns to triple the detector density for higher spatial resolution. We used the ray tracing technique to model the minimization of aberrations within the whole scanning span by designing the free-form surfaces of antennas up to 7-th order of Zernike polynomials. We modeled the wavefront correction by changing the profile of mirror surfaces of antenna reflectors.