Photonic-Enabled Beam Switching Mm-Wave Antenna Array

We present a photonically-excited antenna array at E-band for scanning by beam switching in wireless links. First, we discuss the proposed technique applied to photonic-enabled (sub)millimeter-wave transmitters. Next, we present our implementation; it consists of two sub-arrays of stacked patches as primary feeds of a Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) lens, with one photodiode feeding each sub-array. To validate the assembly, the return loss and radiation patterns have been measured for one of the sub-arrays excited with a coplanar probe. In turn, the lens illuminated by one of the sub-arrays yields a directivity of 27 dBi. The radiation patterns measured for the transmitter module (including the lens) are in very good agreement with full-wave simulations, and they show that excitation of one of either sub-arrays allows beam switching between
$\pm 2.7^\circ$
with a beam crossover at
$-3\, \mathrm{dB}$
. Finally, we have tested the transmitter in a 0.6 m wireless link. Depending on the position of the detector and on which sub-array is excited, we have accomplished 5 Gbps transmission for on-off-keying modulation and direct detection (BER
$=10^{-11}$
). The system constitutes an initial proof of photonic-assisted beam switching for mm-wave transmitters enabling broadband operation with a directive and switchable beam.