Electronic measurement systems in the THz frequency range are often bulky and expensive devices. While some compact single-chip systems operating in the high millimeter-wave frequency range have recently been published, compact measurement systems in the low THz frequency range are still rare. The emergence of new silicon-germanium (SiGe) semiconductor technologies allow the integration of system components, like oscillators, frequency multipliers, frequency dividers, and antennas, operating in the low THz frequency range, into a compact monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMIC), which contains most components to implement a low-cost and compact frequency-modulated continuous-wave-radar transceiver. This article presents a single transceiver solution containing all necessary components. It introduces a $0.48\,\mathrm{THz}$ radar transceiver MMIC with a tuning range of $43\,\mathrm{GHz}$ and an output power of up to $-9.4\,\mathrm{dBm}$ in the SG13G3 $130\,\mathrm{nm}$ SiGe technology by IHP. The MMIC is complemented by a dielectric lens antenna design consisting of polytetrafluoroethylene, providing up to $39.3\,\mathrm d\mathrm B\mathrm i$ of directivity and half-power beam widths of 0.95∘ in transmit and receive direction. The suppression of clutter from unwanted targets deviating from antenna boresight more than 6∘ is higher than $24.6\,\mathrm d \mathrm B$ in E- and H-Plane.

Establishing a precise electromagnetic scattering model of surfaces is of great significance for comprehending the underlying mechanics of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging. To describe surface electromagnetic scattering more comprehensively, this paper established a nonlinear integral equation model with the Creamer model and bispectrum (IEM-C). Based on the IEM-C model, the effect of parameters, such as radar wave incidence angle, wind speed and direction of sea surfaces, and different polarization modes on the backscattering coefficients of C-band radar waves, was systematically evaluated. The results show that the IEM-C model can characterize both the vertical nonlinear features due to wave interactions and the horizontal nonlinear features due to the wind direction. The sensitivity of the sea surface backscattering coefficient in the IEM-C model to nonlinear effects varies with different incident angles. At the incident angle of 30°, the IEM-C model exhibits the most significant nonlinear effects. The nonlinear effects of the IEM-C model vary under different wind speeds. By comparing with the measured data, it is proved that the IEM-C model is closer to the real sea surface scattering situation than the IEM model.

Single-ended and balanced 90–120 GHz microstrip power amplifier MMICs have been designed for cost-sensitive 5G and 6G backhaul in a commercial 6-inch, 0.1-µm GaAs process. At 108 GHz, measured output power is 20.4 and 22.5 dBm, respectively. At 120 GHz, measured output is 12.6 and 17.4 dBm, respectively. This is the highest reported for GaAs, among the highest reported to date for microstrip MMIC amplifiers at these frequencies and competitive with more expensive InP and GaN processes. Measurement is compared with simulation.

Radar absorption structures made of an active frequency selective surfaces (AFSS) have enormous potential in the aviation, naval, and other industries. In this research paper, a systematic review (SR) is carried out in the field of the AFSS to bring uncertainties, obstacles, challenges, classifications, applications, and design issues that arrive in the development of the sub-6 GHz architecture. To bias the AFSS component, as per the signal requirements, a unique set of circuits (PIN diode) is required, with ON and OFF state and a transmission zone. The bandwidth of which is determined by the bias voltage supplied. It can behave as a complicated hybrid impedance structure by providing ON and OFF biasing voltage to a PIN diode embodied in an FSS structure. Higher manufacturing costs of AFSS components, more significant complexities involved, a large amount of power consumption, and reactive impedance losses are some common limitations faced while implementing and designing an AFSS. Many envisioned problems are corrected with the AFSS design, current or creative implementations, and processing parameters are investigated progressively. It implies that new AFSSs will be an alternative to regular FSSs in the future. This paper is based on Kitchenham’s three-phase review procedure and supplements it with results, views, and recommendations from other leading experts in the field.

A design of a microwave absorber based on frequency selective surface resonating in X-band having ultrathin thickness, polarization controlled behavior, and increased absorption bandwidth has been reported. The reported absorber having its unit cell embodied of multiple resonating structures which includes conventional square, circular, and butterfly shaped resonators resulting in three absorption apexes at 9.44, 10.00, and 10.53 GHz (all in X band) with 99.9%, 99%, and 95.1% of absorptivity obtained at the frequencies of resonances. It demonstrates a wide full width at half maximum having 1.48 GHz as bandwidth, at the expense of using an ultrathin substrate of 0.0096 λ0, where λ0 is the wavelength with respect to lowest resonating frequency, i.e. 9.44 GHz. The unit cell is fourfold symmetric exhibiting independence about the absorber’s polarity, as well as, it behaves stable over the outspread angle up to 45 degrees for both transverse magnetic and transverse electric polarized wave under sloped incident angle. The absorption behavior has been demonstrated by plotting the distribution of surface-currents and electric fields at the frequencies of resonance. The fabricated prototype of the presented design is tested at X-band and the obtained results concur with the simulated results.

A wideband tunable balanced phase shifter is achieved by utilizing varactor-loaded coupled lines (VLCLs)-embedded multistage branch-line structure. The tunable phase shift with low in-band phase deviation is attributed to the regulation in phase shift of the VLCLs and the horizontal microstrip lines in series. The wideband differential-mode (DM) impedance matching and common-mode (CM) suppression are due to multiple DM transmission poles and CM transmission zeros, which are brought about by the cascade of VLCLs and a microstrip line with short-circuited stubs in the DM-equivalent circuit and open-circuited stubs in the CM-equivalent circuit, respectively. Compared with the state-of-the-art tunable balanced phase shifters, the proposed design not only has the advantages of wide operating bandwidth (BW) with low in-band phase deviation but also has low insertion loss and easily fabricated structure. Theoretical analysis and design procedure were conducted, resulting in a prototype covering the frequency of 1.8 GHz. This prototype offers a tunable phase shift capability ranging from 0° to 90°. The prototype exhibits an operating BW of 45%, with a maximum phase deviation of ±6°. It also achieves a 10 dB DM return loss and CM suppression, while maintaining a maximum insertion loss of 2.5 dB.

In this article, different 2D and 3D mask styles for synthesizing large array pattern shaping to meet the requirements of modern applications are realized. The composition of the different beam pattern shaping is achieved by comparing the array factor with the proposed masks whose details (upper and lower borders) are predefined according to the designer. The generated pattern shapes are as follows: unscanned 2D single-pencil beam, scanned 2D pencil beam, 2D multi-beam scanning, 2D wide flat beam with little ripple, unscanned 3D single-pencil beam, 3D multi-beam scanning, and footprint (or contour) pattern for linear and planar arrays. The process of constructing these patterns is followed by predicting the amplitude-only weights (i.e., the phase weighting is considered zero in all computations) of the elements using the particle swarm optimization algorithm. In all proposed masks, different sidelobe levels are controlled, ranging from −20 to −100 dB. Also, the radiated beamwidth is controlled, ranging from 0.1334 rad (7.6 deg.) to 0.4 rad (23 deg.). The analysis and construction of linear and planar array arrangements depend on the formulation of antenna array theory through the implementation of the proposed (estimated) equations using MATLAB code. The simulation results showed the effectiveness of the proposed methods in controlling the pattern shape according to the required modern trends.

In this paper, a radio frequency sensor for measuring microfluidics dielectric properties is designed based on microstrip meander line. The meander sensor replaces the straight transmission lines with meander transmission lines in the part of the half-wavelength path difference to improve the sensitivity of the sensor and reduce its size. According to the experimental results, the meander sensor based on the meander line has higher accuracy and a lower relative error than the straight sensor in measuring methanol–ethanol mixtures with different molar fractions. The relative error measured by the meander sensor after calibration with an adjustable cavity is less than 1%. It is easier to detect the very slight variation in dielectric properties brought about by microfluidics. The detection technique can be further applied for the accurate detection of dielectric properties of valuable biological samples, providing a more concise and convenient way.

This paper presents a low-profile six-beam antenna implemented by a compact two-layer 6 × 6 beamforming network (BFN) and a 6 × 2 slot antenna in substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) technology. The main components of the proposed 6 × 6 BFN are 3 × 3 multi-aperture couplers, interlayer hybrid couplers, and several phase shifters which are embedded on two microwave substrates. The proposed antenna has been designed, simulated, and fabricated for the frequency range of 28–32 GHz. The size of this antenna is 82 × 31.8 × 0.787 mm3, which can be a suitable choice for 5G applications due to its compact dimensions compared to similar works. Prototype testing shows that the proposed structure presents a stable beamforming performance both in simulation and measurement with good agreement. The antenna generates six radiation beams in directions ±9°, ±30°, and ±54° with good return losses and isolations.

This paper presents an integrated power amplifier (PA) following the orthogonal load-modulated balanced amplifier (OLMBA) topology. The fixed-phase prototype in this paper is implemented with 22 nm complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) fully depleted silicon-on-insulator (FDSOI) process. The proposed PA operates at 26 GHz frequency range, where it achieves 19.5 dBm output power, 16.6 dB gain, 15.7% power added efficiency, and 18.3 dBm output 1-dB compression point ($P_{\rm 1\,dB}$). The PA is also tested with high dynamic range modulated signals, and it achieves, respectively, 11.4 dBm and 4.9 dBm average output power (Pavg) with 100 MHz and 400 MHz 64-QAM third-generation partnership project/new radio frequency range 2 signals, and 14 dBm Pavg with 0.6 Gb/s (120 MHz) single carrier 64-QAM signal, measured at 26 GHz and using −28 dBc adjacent channel leakage ratio and −21.9 dB (8%) error vector magnitude as threshold values. The proposed OLMBA is also compared to a stand-alone quadrature-balanced PA. Modulated measurements show that the stand-alone quadrature-balanced PA has better linearity in deep back-off, but the OLMBA has better efficiency.

An analytic theory has been developed for the scattering of electromagnetic plane wave from a perfect electromagnetic conducting (PEMC) cylindrical object coated with a general bi-isotropic (BI) material. The proposed problem has been solved using cylindrical vector wave function expansion approach along with the application of tangential boundary conditions. Analytic expressions of the scattering coefficients have been derived in their simplest forms. It is seen that by proper selection of admittance of PEMC core, electromagnetic parameters of BI coating, and coating thickness, one can optimize the scattering characteristics for specific applications. It is shown that the specific types of BI and strong chiral-coated PEMC cylinders having certain coating thicknesses can be used to significantly enhance the co-polarized forward scattering while keeping the cross-polarized forward scattering very small. Such types of enhanced co-polarized forward scattering are preferred in point-to-point communication. Some interesting features have been discussed where co-polarized and cross-polarized backscattering may be suppressed, which find applications in radar engineering problems and stealth technology.