30 GHz liquid crystal phased array

This paper describes the design and measurement of a phased array antenna at 30 GHz. The objective of this work is to build an antenna demonstrator to examine the feasibility of liquid crystal based phase shifters for scanning arrays. A wideband antenna concept is presented and the proper feeding network is designed. The final design comprises of a 4×4 array, which is able to scan in one plane. This array has been realised including the liquid crystal based phase shifters and the necessary DC and RF feeding structures. The demonstrator including the antenna and phase shifters has been measured in an anechoic chamber.