Configurable microwave deflection system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9837723-B2
Application number	US-201414769510-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 10, 2014
Priority date	Feb 22, 2013
Publication date	Dec 5, 2017
Grant date	Dec 5, 2017

Abstract

A configurable deflection system for an incident microwave frequency beam exhibiting a wavelength contained in a band of wavelengths corresponding to the microwave frequencies, comprising: a first and a second diffractive dielectric component suitable for each performing a rotation about a rotation axis Z, the deflection system being suitable for generating a microwave frequency beam by diffraction of the incident microwave frequency beam on the first and second components, the microwave frequency beam being oriented according to an angle that is a function of the angular positioning between the first and said second diffractive components, the first and second components respectively exhibiting a first and second periodic structure of first and second periods according to a first and second axis, the first and second structures respectively comprising a plurality of first and second primary microstructures formed respectively on a first and second substrate of first and second substrate refractive indices.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A configurable deflection system for an incident microwave frequency beam exhibiting a wavelength contained in a band of wavelengths corresponding to the microwave frequencies, comprising:
a first and a second diffractive dielectric component suitable for each performing a rotation about a rotation axis Z,
said deflection system being suitable for generating a microwave frequency beam by diffraction of said incident microwave frequency beam on said first and second components, said microwave frequency beam being oriented according to an angle that is a function of the angular positioning between said first and said second diffractive components,
said first and second components respectively exhibiting a first and second periodic structure of first and second periods according to a first and second axis, said first and second structures respectively comprising a plurality of first and second primary microstructures formed respectively on a first and a second substrate of first and second substrate refractive indices,
said first and second primary microstructures respectively exhibiting at least one first and one second primary size smaller than the ratio between a target wavelength chosen from said band and respectively said first and second substrate refractive indices,
said first and second primary microstructures being arranged so as to form an artificial material respectively exhibiting a first variation of a first effective refractive index and a second variation of a second effective refractive index respectively according to said first and second periods.

2. The deflection system as claimed in claim 1 , in which said primary microstructures are formed in the body of said first and second substrates.

3. The deflection system as claimed in claim 1 , in which said first primary microstructures are in the form of a pillar and/or a hole.

4. The deflection system as claimed in claim 1 , in which said second primary microstructures are in the form of a pillar and/or a hole.

5. The deflection system as claimed in claim 1 , in which said primary microstructures exhibit a hexagonal, circular or square section.

6. The deflection system as claimed in claim 1 , in which at least one of said periods is sampled according to a sampling period defining sampling intervals, said primary microstructures being arranged within each interval so as to correspond to a given effective index value in said interval.

7. The deflection system as claimed in claim 1 , in which said first and/or second primary microstructures respectively exhibit a plurality of first and/or second primary sizes variable along respectively the first period and/or the second period.

8. The deflection system as claimed in claim 6 , in which at most one primary microstructure is arranged per sampling interval.

9. The deflection system as claimed in claim 1 , in which said first and/or second primary microstructures respectively exhibit a first and/or a second given main size and a density per unit of surface area variable respectively along the first and the second periods.

10. The deflection system as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising at least one plurality of secondary microstructures of secondary sizes smaller than the said primary sizes.

11. The deflection system as claimed in claim 8 , in which at most one secondary microstructure is arranged per sampling interval.

12. The deflection system as claimed in claim 1 , in which the first component and/or the second component is at right angles to said rotation axis Z.

13. The deflection system as claimed in claim 1 , in which said first period is less than or equal to said second period.

14. The deflection system as claimed in claim 1 , in which said incident beam is a collimated beam.

15. The deflection system as claimed in claim 1 , in which said microwave frequency beam generated comprises a deflected main beam of relative gain of the main lobe and a plurality of spurious diffracted beams of relative gains of the spurious lobes, and in which said first and second variations respectively of said first and second effective indices are adapted so that each of the deviations between said relative gain of the main lobe and one of said relative gains of said spurious lobes is greater than or equal to 10 dB when said incident microwave frequency beam exhibits a wavelength equal to said target wavelength.

16. An antenna comprising a microwave frequency source arranged substantially at the focus of a dielectric lens so as to generate a collimated beam and a deflection system as claimed in claim 1 .

17. The antenna as claimed in claim 16 , in which said dielectric lens is produced from microstructures exhibiting a size smaller than the ratio between a target wavelength chosen from said band and respectively said first and second substrate refractive indices.

18. The antenna as claimed in claim 17 , in which said dielectric lens is produced on a face of the first component opposite said microwave frequency source, said first structure of the first component being produced on the other face.

19. An antenna comprising a microwave frequency waveguide suitable for generating a collimated beam and a deflection system as claimed in claim 1 .

Assignees

• Thales Sa

Inventors

• Lee-Bouhours Mane-Si Laure
• Brus Antoine
• Loiseaux Brigitte
• Dousset Thierry
• Renard Christian

Classifications

• H01Q15/10 Primary

  comprising three-dimensional [3D] array of impedance discontinuities, e.g. holes in conductive surfaces or conductive discs forming artificial dielectric · CPC title

• H01Q3/14 Primary

  for varying the relative position of primary active element and a refracting or diffracting device · CPC title