Implementation of a low cost, lightweight X-band antenna with integrated SiGe RF electronics

This paper presents an organic, lightweight X-band antenna array with integrated silicon germanium (SiGe) low noise amplifiers (LNA) and 3-bit phase shifters (PS). The SiGe LNAs and PSs were successfully integrated onto an 8×1 lightweight antenna stack-up utilizing a multilayer liquid crystal polymer (LCP) substrate. Successful comparisons of the measured and simulated results verify a working antenna array with a return loss of around 10 dB across the frequency band of 9.25 GHz - 9.75 GHz. A comparison of radiation patterns for the 8×1 antenna with integrated SiGe LNA and the 8×1 antenna with integrated SiGe LNA and PS show a 16 dB and 25 dB increase in gain, respectively. The ultimate goal is to develop an airborne X-band radar capable of a beam steering of at least ±40° through utilization of low power highly integrated SiGe electronics on a low cost multi-layer organic platform. This paper represents the first successful demonstration of a building block prototype (i.e., a fully integrated, high gain X-band antenna with SiGe LNAs and SiGe phase shifters) that can be expanded to a complete active phased array for remote sensing applications in X-band.