20 to 40 GHz Beam Shaping/Steering Phased Antenna Array System using Fermi Tapered Slot Antennas

This paper presents the design and measurement of a 20 to 40 GHz beam shaping/steering Fermi-type tapered slot antenna array. The arrays are fabricated using the electro fine forming (EF2) fabrication technology*. The progressive phase shift is realized by a piezoelectric transducer (PET) controlled phase shifter on coplanar stripline (CPS). Compared to the perturbation on a microstrip line, the CPS provides 50% more phase shift. A Taylor N-Bar distribution is introduced to lower the sidelobe ratio (SLR) in beam shaping, which is necessary for many applications including modern microwave telecommunication systems.