Radar and phased-array breakthroughs — An update

Latest upgrades, progress, promising developments and breakthroughs are covered. Major progress has been made with regard to Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuits (MIMC) relative to the number of transistors and components that can be placed now on a chip for microwave and mm wave circuits, the Moore's law for microwave circuits. Whole arrays are being put on a wafer. Also all the RF circuitry for mm-wave automobile radars are being put on a chip with some believing that such arrays and radars will soon be produced for just a few dollars. Major advances in printed flexible electronic circuits with diodes operating at 1.6 GHz and the potential for operation at 2.4GHz, the Wi-Fi band. A tightly coupled dipole antenna (TCDA) has been developed which provides a 1:20 bandwidth and a λ/40 thickness. Metamaterial antennas have progressed considerably in the last few years. The Army Research Laboratory in Adelphi MD has funded the development of a metamaterial 250-505 MHZ antenna with a λ/20 thickness. Kymeta had demonstrated December 2013 the transmission to satellites and back using 20 and 30 GHz antennas about the size of a laptop which use metamaterial resonators to effect the phase shifting. Lincoln Laboratory increases spurious free dynamic range of receiver plus A/D by 40 dB. The possibility of the transmission of electrical and optical signals over the same wire has been demonstrated. Also being investigated is use of IR beams in a Si chip, which is transparent to IR, for transmission of signals without ohmic loss and at the speed of light. New Symmetry Breaking Theory could allow in the future the placing of small low frequency antennas on a chip. Quantum Radar could allow us to see stealth targets and low cross section cancer cells. We live in exciting times.