Prototyping facility for the development and experimental validation of advanced millimeter-wave antennas

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Millimetre-wave wireless communication systems are emerging for many applications, such as mobile communications, data transfer, highway safety, intelligent transport, and civilian ultra-wide band radar. For these applications, mm-wave planar antenna solutions are required due to their low profile, light-weight and reproducibility. In this perspective, we have proposed several research projects that aim to design new advanced millimeter-wave antennas. In these projects, design, prototyping and experimental characterization of mm-wave antennas are the three most crucial steps for achieving high performances in terms of gain, bandwidth and efficiency. For these objectives, numerical analyses based on electromagnetic field simulations have been used to design mm-wave antennas. Although numerical analysis provides a good guideline of the design, actual antenna prototypes and RF measurements are mandatory for accurately experimental validation of the proposed concepts. The first item for simulations and the third one for RF measurements are already available in our laboratory, but the second item related to the mm-wave antenna prototyping facility is the missing part. At mm-wave bands, antennas often have smaller sizes and require high precision fabrication techniques. However, the common prototyping processes like photolithography and etching processes cannot be applied since they do not provide the required precision. Therefore in this proposal, we request a new prototyping facility based on the ProtoLaser S system from LPKF Company, which provides a higher precision compared to the conventional prototyping techniques, for prototyping and experimental validation of millimeter-wave antennas and devices. The requested instrument will strengthen the equipment already available in our RF laboratory at INRS. The objectives of the present application are, (i) prototyping and testing new efficient mm-wave high-gain and broadband antennas for future mm-wave wireless communications systems, consistently with the specific needs of the high-technology Canadian industry, and (ii) train highly qualified personnel to respond to the scientific and technological challenges of our society.