CMOS-Based Microwave and Millimeter Wave Phased Antenna Arrays and Applications

Recently, there has been a rapid development of phased antenna array (PAA) systems based on low cost MMICs (monolithic microwave integrated circuits). Wideband technology has attracted considerable attention because of its high data-rate transmission capability. An investigation into novel wide band CMOS-based microwave and millimeter wave technologies has been performed in order to develop high performance phased array antenna based transmitter systems for applications including Microwave Imaging Reflectometry (MIR) systems for high temperature plasma diagnostics.;This dissertation presents the design and characterization of the individual building blocks for a Ka-Band (26.5 - 40 GHz) PAA system, which includes a wideband feedback amplifier using the 0.18 mum CMOS process, and a true time delay wideband Rotman lens integrated with a wideband antipodal Vivaldi antenna array on PCB.;A frequency controlled feedback with parasitic cancellation technique has been employed in the amplifier design to overcome the inherent 0.18 mum CMOS process limitations, thereby boosting the high-frequency response. In addition, a gain response superposition concept has been adopted to obtain a flat gain response with a compact size. This amplifier achieves a peak gain of 23.3 dB at 35.6 GHz, and maintains >16 dB gain over the entire Ka-Band. The output saturation power is 10.1 dBm.;An 11-in, 9-out microstrip Rotman Lens with 30° steering angle (6° step) has been designed and implemented. A novel analytical modeling in Matlab enables fast prototyping. EM simulation has been carried out in CST afterwards. To ensure wideband operation, an antipodal Vivaldi antenna array with unbalanced microstrip line feed has been designed and integrated with the Rotman Lens. In the end, the wideband steering has been successfully demonstrated during the measurement.;The analytical and experimental results of the above designs provide guidance toward the development of a new PAA system for future use in MIR systems with significantly enhanced performance.