Millimeter-Wave Diffraction by a Photo-Induced Plasma Grating

Optical gratings are used extensively for beamsteering in the visible and IR range of the spectrum. Change in the dielectric permittivity of a semiconductor medium resulting from the excitation of a nonequilibrium electron-hole plasma makes it possible to extend this technique to MMW frequencies. A photo-induced plasma grating (PIPG) can be easily rewritten by changing the illumination pattern. So this technique can be used in optically controllable MMW antennas. Initial experimental work studied the diffraction of MMW propagating along a dielectric waveguide containing a PIPG. This paper reports on the diffraction of MMW propagating in free space, steered by the PIPG

Gain and Stability Models for HBT Grid Amplifiers

A 16-element heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) grid amplifier has been fabricated with a peak gain of 11 dB at 9.9 GHz with a 3-dB bandwidth of 350 MHz. We report a gain analysis model for the grid and give a comparison of the measurement and theory. The measured patterns show the evidence of a common-mode oscillation. A stability model for the common-mode oscillation is developed. Based on the stability model, a lumped capacitor gives suitable phase shift of the circular function, thus stabilizing the grid. A second 18-element grid was fabricated, using this theory, with improved stability

A Terahertz Grid Frequency Doubler

We present a 144-element terahertz quasi-optical grid frequency doubler. The grid is a planar structure with bow-tie antennas as a unit cell each loaded with a planar Schottky diode. The grid has an output power of 5.5 mW at 1 THz for 3.1-μs, 500-GHz input pulses with a peak power of 36 W. This is the largest recorded output power for a multiplier at terahertz frequencies

Jupiter ICY moon explorer (JUICE): Advances in the design of the radar for Icy Moons (RIME)

This paper presents the Radar for Icy Moon Exploration (RIME) that is a fundamental payload in the Jupiter Icy Moon Explorer (JUICE) mission of the European Space Agency (ESA). RIME is a radar sounder aimed to study the subsurface of Jupiter's icy moons Ganymede, Europa and Callisto. The paper illustrates the main goals of RIME, its architecture and parameters and some recent advances in its design

The Radar For Icy Moon Exploration (RIME) On The Juice Mission

The Radar for Icy Moon Exploration (RIME) is one of the main instruments included in the JUpiter ICy moons Explorer (JUICE) ESA mission. It is a radar sounder designed for studying the subsurface geology and geophysics of Galilean icy moons (i.e., Ganymede, Europa and Callisto) and for detecting possible subsurface water. RIME is designed for penetration of the icy moons up to a depth of 9 km. Two main operation scenarios are foreseen for RIME: i) flyby observations of Europa, Ganymede and Callisto (from a distance of 1000 km to the closest approach of about 400 km); and ii) circular orbital observations around Ganymede at 500 km of altitude. According to these scenarios, RIME is designed to explore the icy shell of the Galilean icy satellites by characterizing the wide range of compositional, thermal, and structural variation found in the subsurface of these moons. RIME observations will profile the ice shells of the Galilean icy satellites with specific focus on Ganymede given the circular orbital phase. The acquired measures will provide geological context on hemispheric (thousands of km), regional (hundreds of km with multiple overlaps), and targeted (tens of km) scales appropriate for a variety of hypothesis tests. RIME will operate in a single frequency band, centred at 9 MHz. The frequency was selected as the result of extensive study of penetration capabilities, surface roughness of the moons, Jovian radio noise, antenna accommodation, and system design. The 9 MHz frequency provides penetration capabilities and mitigation of surface scattering (which can cause signal loss and clutter issues), at the expense of mapping coverage, as it is likely to obtain high SNR observations only on the anti-Jovian side of the target moons. The RIME antenna is a 16 m dipole. The chirp pulse bandwidth is up to 3 MHz, which provides vertical resolution of about 50 m in ice after side lobe weighting. RIME will also operate with 1 MHz bandwidth to reduce data volume when observing deep sounding targets. This corresponds to a vertical resolution of about 140 m in ice. Within the high and low resolution modes, parameters can be adjusted to change the output data rate. RIME can downlink raw data for on-ground focusing or pre-processed data by a presuming operation for data rate reduction