Photonics for phased array systems

The use of photonics technology in RF and microwave systems offers numerous advantages in many applications when compared to traditional microwave implementations and techniques. The impetus for future phased array antenna systems has revolved around the demands for increased capabilities including larger arrays for higher power and better angular resolution, wide bandwidths, reconfigurability, higher operating frequencies and shared apertures. In particular, photonics can serve as an enabling technology to provide many of these future capabilities. This paper surveys some of the previous photonic techniques for optical control of array antennas, highlights some of the ongoing research, addresses system-level issues for technology insertion and present results indicating the present and future potential of photonics for array antennas