Applications of MM Wave Microstrip Antenna Arrays

Microstrip antennas posses attractive features such as low profile, light weight, small volume and low production cost. In addition, integrating the microstrip feed structure with the radiating elements on the same substrate attains the benefit of a compact low cost feed network. However, losses in the microstrip feed network form a significant limit on the possible applications of microstrip antenna arrays in mm wave frequency range. However, in some applications the radiators in the array are not connected by an array feed network. In these applications we may benefit from the advantages of microstrip antennas. In this paper we describe the development and applications of mm wave microstrip arrays. MM wave microstrip antenna arrays may be employed in communication links, seekers and detection arrays. The arrays consists around 256 elements to 1024 elements. Design considerations of the antenna and the feed network are given in this paper. Optimization of the antenna and feed network allows us to design microstrip antenna arrays with high efficiency.