Low-Profile Terahertz Radar Based on Broadband Leaky-Wave Beam Steering

Kosuke Murano, Issei Watanabe, Akifumi Kasamatsu, Safumi Suzuki, Masahiro Asada, Withawat Withayachumnankul, Toshiyuki Tanaka, Yasuaki Monnai

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

48 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We demonstrate short-range terahertz radar based on a leaky-wave antenna with a beam steering capability. As a proof of concept, we develop a microstrip-based periodic leaky-wave antenna driven by a vector network analyzer. By sweeping the frequency from 235 to 325 GHz, beam steering from-23 ° to + 15° across the broadside can be achieved with a nearly constant beam width of 4 °. Small target detection is demonstrated by locating a metal cylinder with a diameter of 12 mm placed 46-86 mm in front of the antenna with a mean error of 2.4 mm. The use of a leaky-wave antenna can pave the way for developing a low-loss, low-profile, and wide-aperture terahertz radar. Importantly, it can be integrated with a solid-state source and a detector. The proposed approach is particularly promising for use with emerging small devices such as drones or wearable devices, where millimeter-wave radar is not suitable in terms of the resolution and system footprint.

Original languageEnglish
Article number7762933
Pages (from-to)60-69
Number of pages10
JournalIEEE Transactions on Terahertz Science and Technology
Volume7
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2017 Jan

Keywords

  • Beam steering
  • broadside radiation
  • leaky-wave antennas (LWA)
  • terahertz radar
  • waveguide-to-microstrip couplers

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Radiation
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering

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