Use of microwave lenses in phase retrieval microwave holography of reflector antennas

The Misell (1973) phase retrieval algorithm for microwave holography requires the capability to axially move an antenna's subreflector or feed to obtain a defocused far-field magnitude pattern. A microwave lens may be used as an alternative method of defocusing an antenna. A metal plate lens has been designed and constructed for use in phase retrieval holography at the Georgia Tech Woodbury Research Facility. Its phase variation across the aperture was chosen to have a parabolic profile in order to imitate the effect of subreflector or feed translation. A two-dimensional (2-D) finite-difference time-domain simulation has been performed to characterize the lens. Measurements, using the measured aperture phase of the lens transfer function as a phase correction term in the Misell algorithm, show the results to be comparable with that of phase coherent holography. Other types of microwave lenses such as a Fresnel zone plate, a bed of circular waveguides, and a standard dielectric lens are also being studied.