Towards a mm-wave planar biomimetic antenna array with enhanced phase sensitivity

The design and measurements of a two-element biomimetic antenna array is presented with enhanced phase sensitivity at 20 GHz using planar structures only. The antenna array hereby mimics the hearing system of the parasitoid fly Ormia ochracea. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first biomimetic antenna array using frequencies above 1 GHz. Using an aperture coupled patch antenna array with element spacing of λ/5 and a corresponding external coupling network a phase gain of 5 has been achieved. The proposed architecture is supposed to be usable in even higher frequency bands, especially in the mm-wave range.