Browsing by Subject "Beam steering"

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5

Open Access
Design, fabrication and operation of a very high intensity CMUT transmit array for beam steering applications
(2020-12) Khan, Talha Masood
Several studies have reported airborne ultrasound transmission systems focused on achieving beamforming. However, beam steering and beamforming for capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers (CMUTs) at high intensity remains to be accomplished. CMUTs, like other ultrasonic transducers, incorporate a loss mechanism to obtain a wide bandwidth. They are restricted to a limited amount of plate swing due to the gap between the radiating plate and the bottom electrode, along with a high dc bias operation. CMUTs can be designed to produce high-intensity ultrasound by employing an unbiased operation. This mode of operation allows the plate to swing the entire gap without collapsing, thus enabling higher intensity. In this study, we use an equivalent circuit-based model to design unbiased CMUT arrays driven at half the mechanical frequency. This model is cross verified using finite element analysis (FEA). CMUT arrays are produced in multiple configurations using a customized microfabrication process that involves anodic wafer bonding, a single lithographic mask, and a shadow mask. We use impedance measurements to characterize the microfabricated devices. We experimentally obtained the highest reported intensity using a microfabricated 2×2 CMUT array driven at resonance in a pulsed configuration. This array is also capable of beam steering and beamforming at a high intensity such that it can steer the entire half-space. The beam obtained from the array is in excellent agreement with the theoretical predictions. The amplitude and phase compensation for the devices remain constant that makes these arrays attractive for applications involving park assist, gesture recognition, and tactile displays.
Open Access
High-Intensity airborne CMUT transmitter array with beam steering
(IEEE, 2020) Khan, Talha Masood; Taşdelen, Akif Sinan; Yılmaz, Mehmet; Atalar, Abdullah; Köymen, Hayrettin
A 2×2 high-intensity CMUT transmit array that is capable of two-dimensional beam steering is presented. The device uses an ac drive voltage at half the ultrasound frequency without any dc bias, enabling the usage of the entire gap height. The device is designed using a large signal equivalent model approach. A fabrication method that requires a single lithographic mask has been used. The fabricated devices are operated at 76 kHz to beam steer at various angles. An equivalent element pressure of 144 dB// 20 μ Pa at the transducer surface was measured. The entire half-space can be steered without any sidelobes and the beam obtained from the array is in excellent agreement with the theoretical predictions. [2020-0253]
Open Access
Reconfigurable nested ring-split ring transmitarray unit cell employing the element rotation method by microfluidics
(Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, 2015) Erdil, E.; Topalli, K.; Esmaeilzad, N. S.; Zorlu, O.; Kulah, H.; Aydin, C. O.
A continuously tunable, circularly polarized X-band microfluidic transmitarray unit cell employing the element rotation method is designed and fabricated. The unit cell comprises a double layer nested ring-split ring structure realized as microfluidic channels embedded in Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) using soft lithography techniques. Conductive regions of the rings are formed by injecting a liquid metal (an alloy of Ga, In, and Sn), whereas the split region is air. Movement of the liquid metal together with the split around the ring provides 360° linear phase shift range in the transmitted field through the unit cell. A circularly polarized unit cell is designed to operate at 8.8 GHz, satisfying the necessary phase shifting conditions provided by the element rotation method. Unit cell prototypes are fabricated and the proposed concept is verified by the measurements using waveguide simulator method, within the frequency range of 8-10 GHz. The agreement between the simulation and measurement results is satisfactory, illustrating the viability of the approach to be used in reconfigurable antennas and antenna arrays.
Open Access
Reprogrammable metasurface design for NIR beam steering and active filtering
(Institute of Physics Publishing Ltd., 2024-07-24) Hajian, Hodjat; Proffit, Matthieu; Özbay, Ekmel; Landais, Pascal; Bradley, A. Louise
Reprogrammable metasurfaces enable active modulation of light at subwavelength scales. Operating in the microwave, terahertz, and mid-infrared ranges, these metasurfaces find applications in communications, sensing, and imaging. Electrically tunable metasurfaces operating in the near-infrared (NIR) range are crucial for light detection and ranging (LiDAR) applications. Achieving a NIR reprogrammable metasurface requires individual gating of nano-antennas, emphasizing effective heat management to preserve device performance. To this end, here we propose an electrically tunable Au-vanadium dioxide (VO2) metasurface design on top of a one-dimensional Si-Al2O3 photonic crystal (PC), positioned on a SiC substrate. Each individual Au-VO2 nano-antenna is switched from an Off to ON state via Joule heating, enabling the programming of the metasurface using 1-bit (binary) control. While operating as a nearly perfect reflector at lambda(0)=1.55 mu m, the materials, thickness, and number of the layers in the PC are carefully chosen to ensure it acts as a thermal metamaterial. Moreover, with high optical efficiency (R similar to 40% at lambda(0)), appropriate thermal performance, and feasibility, the metasurface also enables broadband programmable beam steering in the 1.4-1.7 mu m range for a wide steering angle range. This metasurface design also offers active control over NIR light transmittance, reflectance and absorptance in the wavelength range of 0.75-3 mu m. These characteristics render the device practical for LiDAR and active filtering.
Open Access
Three dimensional microfabricated broadband patch and multifunction reconfigurable antennae for 60 GHz applications
(IEEE, 2015-04) Hünerli H. V.; Mopidevi, H.; Cağatay, E.; Imbert, M.; Romeu, J.; Jofre, L.; Çetiner, B. A.; Bıyıklı, Necmi
In this paper we present two antenna designs capable of covering the IEEE 802.11ad (WiGig) frequency band (57-66 GHz and 59-66 GHz respectively). The work below reports the design, microfabrication and characterization of a broadband patch antenna along with the design and microfabrication of multifunction reconfigurable antenna (MRA) in its static form excluding active switching. The first design is a patch antenna where the energy is coupled with a conductor-backed (CB) coplanar waveguide (CPW)-fed loop slot, resulting in a broad bandwidth. The feed circuitry along with the loop is formed on a quartz substrate (at 60 GHz), on top of which an SU-8-based three-dimensional (3D) structure with air cavities is microfabricated. The patch metallization is deposited on top of this structure. The second design is a CB CPW-fed loop slot coupled patch antenna with a parasitic layer on top. The feed circuitry along with the loop is formed on a quartz substrate. On top, the patch metallization is patterned on another quartz substrate. The parasitic pixels are deposited on top of these two quartz layers on top of an SU-8 based 3D structure with air cavities. © 2015 EurAAP.