Design of a Compact V-Band Transceiver and Antenna for Millimeter-Wave Imaging Systems

In this paper, we introduce a synthetic aperture radar (SAR)-based millimeter-wave imaging system for highresolution imaging of human skin, in addition to traditional nondestructive testing applications. The imaging system, which operates in the 58-64-GHz frequency range, forms the basic building block of a future millimeter-wave camera suitable for imaging burned skin and skin cancers. The system is composed of a coherent transceiver and two antennas, principally enabling a quasi-monostatic measurement configuration. The designed antenna is an antipodal Vivaldi antenna with 5.0-8.0-dB gain and half-power beamwidths of ~79.0° and ~76.0° in its E- and H-planes, respectively. The transceiver is designed using a complete system-on-chip transmitter and receiver capable of I/ Q detection. The fully designed imaging system has 47 dB of dynamic range and is phase-calibrated using a robust wideband calibration procedure based on single-frequency SAR imaging approach. Examples of images produced with this system include burned pigskin skin and a small balsa wood panel with four small embedded rubber pieces.