Liquid Crystal Polymer (LCP): A New Organic Material for the Development of Multilayer Dual-Frequency/Dual-Polarization Flexible Antenna Arrays (original) (raw)
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This paper presents the most recent results towards the development of a lightweight dual frequency/polarization microstrip antenna array on Liquid Crystal Polymer (LCP) substrates for NASA's remote sensing applications. LCP's multi-layer lamination capabilities, excellent electrical and mechanical properties, and near hermetic nature make it an excellent candidate for the development of low cost, flexible antenna arrays with integrated RF MEMS switches for NASA's applications up to 110 GHz. To test the viability of LCP at these frequencies, ring resonators and cavity resonators have been used to characterize LCP's ε r and tanδ from 2 -110 GHz for the first time. Dual-frequency antenna arrays at 14 and 35 GHz were developed. Also, a soft-and-hard surface (SHS) structure has been employed for radiation pattern improvement of a patch antenna on a large-size substrate.
2007 IEEE Antennas and Propagation International Symposium, 2007
In this paper, solutions for developing low cost electronics for antenna transceivers that take advantage of the stable electrical properties of the organic substrate Liquid Crystal Polymer (LCP) has been presented. Three important ingredients in RF wireless transceivers namely embedded passives, a dual band filter and a RFid antenna have been designed and fabricated on LCP. Test results of all 3 of the structures show good agreement between the simulated and measured results over their respective bandwidths, demonstrating stable performance of the LCP substrate.
77-GHz mmWave antenna array on liquid crystal polymer for automotive radar and RF front-end module
ETRI Journal
This paper introduces a low-cost, high-performance mmWave antenna array module at 77 GHz. Conventional waveguide transitions have been replaced by 3D CPW-microstrip transitions which are much simpler to realize. They are compatible with low-cost substrate fabrication processes, allowing easy integration of ICs in 3D multi-chip modules. An antenna array is designed and implemented using multilayer coupled-fed patch antenna technology. The proposed 16 × 16 array antenna has a fractional bandwidth of 8.4% (6.5 GHz) and a 23.6-dBi realized gain at 77 GHz. K E Y W O R D S 3D transition, automotive radar module, broadband transition, mmWave antenna array, proximitycoupled patch antenna 1 | INTRODUCTION According to a study by the World Health Organization, road traffic accidents are expected to increase from the 9th to 5th cause of death by 2030 [1]. This pushes for technological advancements in sensing and detection, which are a critical part of contemporary automotive technology (ie, self-driving autonomous cars). There are several features that can be integrated into vehicles for safer driving: adaptive cruise control, collision notification, avoidance, blind spot detection, park mate, backup aid, lane departure warning, lane keeping, traffic sign recognition, and night vision. mmWave radar was once considered inappropriate technology for automotive applications because there were no practical means of generation, reception, channelization, and transmission of electromagnetic (EM) waves in the mmWave range. However, recent developments based on the mmWave theory and experimentation have provided new opportunities for communication and radar applications in various fields. The mmWave band offers many advantages compared to low-GHz frequency bands. It has a broad bandwidth, high communication security, small antenna dimensions, high-speed data transmission, and compatibility with Si technology [2, 3]. Polished metallic structures have advantages such as low path loss, robust mechanical support, and high isolation from external noise. However, conventional metallic waveguide-based antennas and radio frequency (RF) module architectures for packaging, support, and interconnection have enormous costs and high volumes [4, 5]. mmWave technology for short-range broadband radar and other applications is low-cost and has good performance. The ultimate goal of this study is to realize a low-cost, high-performance mmWave module that can be applied to automotive radar. In this work, a broadband 3D transition and a patch antenna array on a low-cost flexible liquid crystal polymer (LCP) substrate for
Microwave Theory …, 2004
Liquid crystal polymer (LCP) is a material that has gained attention as a potential high-performance microwave substrate and packaging material. This investigation uses several methods to determine the electrical properties of LCP for millimeter-wave frequencies. Microstrip ring resonators and cavity resonators are measured in order to characterize the dielectric constant ( ) and loss tangent (tan ) of LCP above 30 GHz. The measured dielectric constant is shown to be steady near 3.16, and the loss tangent stays below 0.0049. In addition, various transmission lines are fabricated on different LCP substrate thicknesses and the loss characteristics are given in decibels per centimeter from 2 to 110 GHz. Peak transmission-line losses at 110 GHz vary between 0.88-2.55 dB/cm, depending on the line type and geometry. These results show, for the first time, that LCP has excellent dielectric properties for applications extending through millimeter-wave frequencies.
The 2012 International Workshop on Microwave and Millimeter Wave Circuits and System Technology, 2012
We describe a new class of microwave/millimeter device utilizing Liquid Crystal Polymer (LCP) material which has showed a combination of good electrical and mechanical properties. This paper presents the design and simulation of a fully System-On-Package (SOP) antenna module that will be suitable for 5GHz WLAN application with high performance. The proposed antenna is printed on a flexible LCP layer, protruding from a rigid multilayer organic substrate. The shielding effect of the metal case which protects the module circuitry from the near fields of the antenna was also taken care of during the design.
2006
The development of a dual-frequency, dual polarization, aperture-fed, multiple-layered microstrip antenna array on flexible organic material for System-on-a-Package (SoP) RF front ends is described in this work. The integration of RF MEMS phase-shifters with the array enables accurate beamscanning over the earth's surface. The flexible light-weight organic substrate minimizes the production cost while it enables the structure to be folded or rolled-up thus saving space and weight; elements determinant in a satellite mission.
2010
The relative permittivity of LCP material has been characterized within the whole 60 GHz frequency band using the microstrip ring resonator (MRR) method. Using a circuit model, the gap capacitance of the MRR has been taken into account in order to improve the accuracy of the determined relative permittivity. The results show that the relative permittivity of LCP is almost constant ("r ?? 3.1) within the whole 60 GHz frequency band. The homogeneity of the LCP panel has also been examined. It is found that the variation of the relative permittivity is within 1.5% across the LCP panel