ERI: Novel Dielectric Antennas for Microwave and mmWave Communication and Imaging Systems

该奖项的全部或部分资金来自《2021年美国救援计划法案》(公法117-2)。无线通信现在已经发展到毫米波(毫米波)时代，在毫米波频率上运行的成像系统也被广泛应用于自动驾驶、安全检查站和无损检测。对于所有这样的系统，节能和定向天线和波束形成设备是关键部件。金属天线在6 GHz以下频段的应用中占据主导地位，而介质天线具有辐射效率高、材料和三维几何设计自由度大等特点，在高频微波和毫米波应用中发挥着越来越重要的作用。该项目的目标是通过设计框架的理论发展和使用先进的陶瓷添加剂制造技术的实际实施，开发用于毫米波系统的新型介质天线和紧凑型波束形成装置。开发的新型介质天线系统将提供紧凑、低成本和高能效的前端解决方案，可应用于各种无线通信和毫米波成像系统。拟议的研究还得到了一项教育综合计划的补充，其中包括课程模块的开发以及本科生和研究生研究人员的培训。目前对介质谐振器天线(DRA)的研究主要局限于正则几何结构，缺乏针对复杂高介电常数结构的通用设计方法和合适的制造技术。梯度折射率(GRIN)透镜构成了一种替代的低成本波束成形解决方案，但已报道的实现主要限于使用印刷塑料的笨重的低介电常数器件，而有限的陶瓷实现经历了显著的性能下降。在这项拟议的研究中，我们研究了数字光处理(DLP)3D打印技术，以制造具有复杂几何形状和材料分布的紧凑型高介电常数DRAS和GRIN透镜，并开发出利用这些自由度的新的设计和合成方法。该工作的成功实施，有望对介质谐振器天线的工作原理和性能极限有新的认识，为紧凑型定向波束形成器件的设计和实现提供新的思路和方法。陶瓷基添加剂制造在微波和电磁设备中的应用将为3D微波打印界产生新的实验和测量数据，并融合不同学科的新研究可能性和方向。最后，北卡罗来纳农业技术州立大学(NCAT)作为最大的公立HBCU，毕业的非裔美国人工程师在美国最多。这使得PI在促进和影响少数群体中的工程研究和教育方面处于独特的地位。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2).Wireless communication has now evolved into the millimeter wave (mmWave) era, and imaging systems operating at mmWave frequencies for autonomous driving, security checkpoint and non-destructive detection are also intensively pursued. For all such systems, energy-efficient and directive antennas and beamforming devices are critical components. While metallic antennas have been dominating the applications at the sub-6 GHz (below 6 GHz) frequency range, dielectric antennas, featuring high radiation efficiency and large design freedom in material and 3D geometry options, play an increasingly important role in high microwave and mmWave applications. The goal of this project is to develop novel dielectric antennas and compact beamforming devices for mmwave systems through both theoretical development of design frameworks and practical implementation using advanced ceramic additive manufacturing technology. The developed novel dielectric antenna systems will provide compact, low cost and energy-efficient front end solutions that find application in various wireless communication and mmWave imaging systems. The proposed research is also complemented by an education integration plan including course module development, and training of undergraduate and graduate researchers. Current research on dielectric resonator antennas (DRAs) has been largely limited to canonical geometries, due to the lack of generalized design methods and suitable fabrication techniques for intricate high permittivity structures. Gradient-index (GRIN) lenses constitutes an alternative low cost beamforming solution, but reported implementations are primarily limited to bulky low-permittivity devices using printed plastics while limited ceramic implementations experience significant performance degradation. In this proposed research, we investigate the digital light processing (DLP) 3D printing technology for the fabrication of compact high-permittivity DRAs and GRIN lenses with complex geometries and material distributions, and develop novel design and synthesis methods for these devices that take advantage of these degrees of freedom. With successful execution, the proposed work is expected to bring new understandings to dielectric resonator antenna's operation principle and performance limits, and arouse novel design methods and implementation of compact directive beamforming devices. The application of ceramic-based additive manufacturing to microwave and electromagnetic devices will produce new experimental and measurement data for the 3D microwave printing community and fuse new research possibilities and directions across different disciplines. Lastly, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (NCAT), as the largest public HBCU, graduates the most African American engineers in the US. This puts the PI in a unique position to promote and impact the engineering research and education among minority groups.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.