Multilevel Photonic Modules for Millimeter Wave Phased Array Antennas

Arthur Paolella ^a, Abhay Joshi ^b, James Wright ^c, Louis Coryell ^c

^a Lockheed Martin, Communications & Power Center, Newtown, PA
^b Discovery Semiconductors Inc., Ewing, NJ
^c U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command, Ft. Monmouth, NJ

ABSTRACT

Optical signal distribution for phased array antennas in communication systems is advantageous to designers.  By distributing the microwave and millimeter wave signals through optical fiber there is the potential for improved performance and lower weight.  In addition when applied to communication satellites this weight saving translates into substantially reduced launch costs.

The goal of the Phase I Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program is the development of multi-level photonic modules for phased array antennas.  The proposed module will ultimately comprise of a monolithic, InGaAs / InP p-i-n photodetector - p-HEMT power amplifier, opto-electronic integrated circuit (OEIC), that has 44 GHz bandwidth and output power of 50 mW integrated with a planar antenna.  The photodetector will have a high quantum efficiency (> 30%) and will be front-illuminated, thereby improving optical performance.  Under Phase I a module was developed using standard MIC technology with a high frequency coaxial feed interconnect.

Keywords:  photodetector electro-optic integrated circuit (EOIC), phased array antenna

* Paper presented at SPIE Conference, San Diego, July 98