Low-Profile High-Power Optically Addressed Phased Array Antenna

A low-profile optically fed ultra-wideband-connected array (CA) antenna with increasedoperational power is presented. Introduction of a miniature optical prism into the fiber optic feed enables an efficient 90 degrees coupling to a high-powercharge-compensated-modified uni-travelling carrier photo-diode connected directly at the feed point of an integrated CA antenna element. This technique significantly reduces the array profile and, herein, is implemented into a 1-D CA antenna array consisting of eight photodiode-coupled active dipole elements. The experimentally verified array achieves effective beamforming and beam steering over a 3-dB bandwidth of 6-17 GHz, as well as a peak effective isotropic radiated powerof 27.5 dBm at 13 GHz.