A terahertz array antenna laminated structure

Abstract

The application discloses a terahertz array antenna laminated structure, which comprises a radiation array surface layer, a functional component layer and a mounting base layer; the radiation array surface layer, the functional component layer and the mounting base layer are interconnected by means of a flange-removing integrated laminated alignment welding; and the functional component layer is located between the radiation array surface layer and the mounting base layer. The application solves the problem of interconnection and installation among terahertz array antenna components.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention belongs to the field of terahertz antenna technology, and particularly relates to a terahertz array antenna stacked structure. Background Technology

[0002] In the millimeter-wave field, connections between components are typically achieved using waveguide flanges. However, for a terahertz array antenna being developed for a specific project, interconnecting components using traditional waveguide flange mounting presents the following problems: 1) Terahertz band characteristic dimensions are on the micrometer scale, and existing mounting flanges are larger than the array element spacing, causing interference and rendering them unsuitable for practical manufacturing; 2) Traditional flange mounting methods are complex and labor-intensive; 3) As the number of mounting layers increases, installation errors accumulate layer by layer. Therefore, it is necessary to propose a method suitable for interconnecting terahertz array antenna components. Summary of the Invention

[0003] The technical problem solved by the present invention is to overcome the shortcomings of the prior art and provide a terahertz array antenna stacked structure, which aims to solve the problem of interconnection and installation between terahertz band array antenna components.

[0004] To address the aforementioned technical problems, this invention discloses a terahertz array antenna stacked structure, comprising: a radiating array layer, a functional component layer, and a mounting base layer;

[0005] The radiating array layer, functional component layer, and mounting base layer are interconnected by a flangeless integrated stacked alignment welding method; the functional component layer is located between the radiating array layer and the mounting base layer.

[0006] In the above-mentioned terahertz array antenna stacked structure, the substrates of the radiating array layer, the functional component layer, and the mounting base layer are all metal plates.

[0007] In the above-mentioned terahertz array antenna stacked structure, a number of array antenna elements are arranged on the radiating array layer. The array antenna elements are laid on the substrate of the radiating array layer in a predetermined layout to form an antenna array.

[0008] In the above-mentioned terahertz array antenna stacked structure, the layout method is set, including: regular grid array layout method or sparse irregular array layout method.

[0009] In the above-mentioned terahertz array antenna stacked structure, there are one or more functional component layers, which are used to implement different functions, including: port conversion function, mode excitation function, mode conversion function, equal phase transmission function, filter function, polarizer function and switching function; wherein, one or more functions can be integrated on a functional component layer.

[0010] In the above-mentioned terahertz array antenna stacked structure, any functional component layer is interconnected with the previous functional component layer, the next functional component layer, the radiating array layer, or the mounting base layer by adopting a flange-free integrated stacked alignment welding method.

[0011] In the above-mentioned terahertz array antenna stacked structure, the functional component layer is an array cavity structure formed by opening cavities on a metal substrate. The integrated processing and forming of the functional component cavity array is completed by directly opening cavities at the array element positions on the substrate of the functional component layer.

[0012] In the above-mentioned terahertz array antenna stacked structure, the substrate of the functional component layer includes: an upper structural plate, a transformation section structural plate and a lower structural plate welded in sequence.

[0013] The present invention has the following advantages:

[0014] (1) This invention discloses a terahertz array antenna stacked structure, which solves the problem of interconnection and installation between components of a micro-sized multi-port array antenna in the terahertz band. Based on the overall hierarchical structure of the terahertz array antenna, the cavity array of each functional component layer is integrally processed, and then all functional component layers, along with the radiating array layer and the mounting base layer, are welded together in one go through high-precision interlayer positioning and alignment. This method avoids the limitations of installation space and electrical performance loss caused by installation errors in traditional waveguide flange interconnection methods under micro-sized conditions.

[0015] (2) This invention discloses a terahertz array antenna stacked structure. The pure metal stacked structure can effectively suppress signal leakage and reflection, and improve the radiation efficiency and beam performance of the antenna.

[0016] (3) This invention discloses a terahertz array antenna stacked structure, which adopts a flangeless integrated welding method and is suitable for the actual production and manufacturing of terahertz array antennas.

[0017] (4) The present invention discloses a terahertz array antenna stacked structure, which has a wide range of applications and is also applicable to the interconnection of array antenna components in the millimeter wave band. It can replace the traditional flange connection method, has strong versatility, and compared with the traditional flange connection method, the present invention can achieve higher three-dimensional alignment accuracy of multi-layer component multi-cavity array, and will not introduce cumulative error as the number of functional component layers increases. In addition, it has the engineering advantages of simple process, convenient operation and small workload. Attached Figure Description

[0018] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of a terahertz array antenna stacked structure in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0019] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the installation of a conventional waveguide flange in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0020] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of an integrated flange-removal laminated alignment welding method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0021] Figure 4 yes Figure 3 A partial schematic diagram;

[0022] Figure 5 This is a comparison chart of measured and simulated results of the normalized unit radiation pattern in an application example of this invention. Detailed Implementation

[0023] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of the present invention clearer, the embodiments disclosed in the present invention will be described in further detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0024] One of the core ideas of this invention is to propose a terahertz array antenna stacked structure. Based on the overall hierarchical structure of the terahertz array antenna, the cavity array of each functional component layer is integrally processed. Then, through high-precision inter-layer positioning and alignment, all functional component layers, along with the radiating array layer and the mounting base layer, are welded together in one piece. One of the objectives of this invention is to complete the prototype development of a terahertz band wide-angle electronically scanned array antenna. To meet the technical requirements of wide-angle electronic scanning, this invention develops a wide-beam metallic antenna element suitable for terahertz band wide-angle scanning array antennas. To solve the strong mutual coupling effect between array elements under large-angle scanning conditions of the communication array, this invention adopts a sparse array layout to achieve spatial decoupling between array antenna elements. This invention also designs a discrete array signal equal-phase feeding module to complete the conversion from a regular array layout to an irregular array layout.

[0025] like Figure 1 In this embodiment, the terahertz array antenna stacked structure includes: a radiating array layer 1, a functional component layer 2, and a mounting base layer 3. The radiating array layer 1, the functional component layer 2, and the mounting base layer 3 are interconnected using a flangeless integrated stacked alignment welding method; the functional component layer 2 is located between the radiating array layer 1 and the mounting base layer 3.

[0026] In this embodiment, the terahertz array antenna stacked structure adopts a pure metal structure, that is, the substrates of the radiating array layer 1, the functional component layer 2 and the mounting base layer 3 are all metal plates.

[0027] In this embodiment, a plurality of array antenna elements 101 are disposed on the radiating array layer 1. The plurality of array antenna elements 101 are laid on the substrate of the radiating array layer 1 in a predetermined layout to form an antenna array. Preferably, the predetermined layout includes, but is not limited to, a regular grid array layout or a sparse irregular array layout.

[0028] In this embodiment, the functional component layer 2 consists of one or more components, used to implement different functions, including:

[0029] Port conversion function, mode excitation function, mode conversion function, equal phase transmission function, filter function, 5-polarizer function, and switching function, etc. Among them, one or more functions can be integrated on a single functional component layer.

[0030] Traditional waveguide flange installation methods involve designing flanges at the input and output ports, and then sequentially mounting functional components onto the input and output structural plates via these flanges to complete the interlayer connections between the functional components. Figure 2 As shown, this method requires fabricating multiple waveguide transformation units and installing them individually onto the upper and lower layer structures via flanges.

[0031] On the substrate, the upper and lower structural substrates are then mounted to the structural substrates of their adjacent functional components. This method is unsuitable for terahertz array antenna applications due to the excessively large flange size. In this embodiment, however, a flangeless integrated stacked alignment welding method is used to complete the interconnection, such as... Figure 3 and Figure 4 As shown, each functional component layer is designed as an array cavity structure formed by opening cavities in a metal substrate. The functional component cavity array is completed by directly opening cavities at the array element positions of the substrate of functional component layer 2.

[0032] The integrated processing and high-precision positioning and alignment between layers (achieving a three-dimensional alignment accuracy of 0.01mm for 5 columns of multi-layer functional component arrays) allows all functional component layers, along with the radiation array layer and the mounting base layer, to be welded together in one go. The operation is simple, the workload is small, and it is applicable to single-layer or multi-layer functional components without introducing cumulative errors, making it highly versatile.

[0033] In this embodiment, any functional component layer is interconnected with the previous functional component layer, the next functional component layer, the radiating array layer 1, or the mounting base layer 3 by means of flangeless integrated stacking alignment welding.

[0034] In this embodiment, the functional component layer 2 is an array cavity structure formed by opening cavities on a metal substrate. The substrate of the functional component layer 2 includes: an upper structure plate 201, a transformation section structure plate 202 and a lower structure plate 203 that are sequentially welded together.

[0035] In this embodiment, when the input port of the array antenna is a rectangular waveguide with a regular rectangular grid arrangement, and the radiating array is sparsely and irregularly arranged, the functional component layer needs to consist of equal-phase transmission components and terminals.

[0036] The system consists of two functional components: an equal-phase transmission component to achieve the same phase transmission between different array elements under different physical transmission paths, and a port transformation component to convert the rectangular waveguide port to the circular waveguide port of the array antenna element. The equal-phase transmission component and the port transformation component can be formed by creating cavities in the metal substrate of the functional component layer, and can be integrated on one functional component layer or on two functional component layers respectively.

[0037] Based on the above embodiments, the design process of the terahertz array antenna stack structure is described below:

[0038] 1. Determine the overall hierarchical structure of the terahertz array antenna, including: the radiating array layer, the functional component layer, and the mounting base layer.

[0039] 2. Based on task requirements, the functional component layer is planned, including: port conversion functional components, mode excitation functional components, mode conversion functional components, equal phase transmission functional components, filters, polarizers, switches and other functional components.

[0040] 3. For each functional component, processing requirements are proposed for the cavity size based on the electrical performance index requirements, and the integrated processing of the cavity array of each functional component layer is completed.

[0041] 4. Through high-precision positioning and alignment between layers, all functional component layers, along with the radiation array layer and the mounting base layer, are welded together in one go.

[0042] Figure 5 The comparison between measured and simulated results of the normalized unit radiation pattern in the application example of this invention shows that the antenna beam shape does not change much, proving the effectiveness of the solution of this invention.

[0043] Although the present invention has been disclosed above with reference to preferred embodiments, it is not intended to limit the present invention. Any person skilled in the art can make possible changes and modifications to the technical solutions of the present invention by utilizing the methods and techniques disclosed above without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, any simple modifications, equivalent changes and alterations made to the above embodiments based on the technical essence of the present invention without departing from the content of the technical solutions of the present invention shall fall within the protection scope of the technical solutions of the present invention.

[0044] The contents not described in detail in this specification are common knowledge to those skilled in the art.

Claims

1. A terahertz array antenna stacked structure, characterized in that, include: The radiation array layer (1), the functional component layer (2), and the mounting base layer (3) are interconnected by a flangeless integrated stacked alignment welding method; the functional component layer (2) is located between the radiation array layer (1) and the mounting base layer (3). The substrates of the radiating array layer (1), the functional component layer (2), and the mounting base layer (3) are all metal plates; The functional component layer (2) consists of one or more layers, which are used to implement different functions, including: port conversion function, mode excitation function, mode conversion function, phase transmission function, filter function, polarizer function and switching function; wherein, one or more functions are integrated on a functional component layer; any functional component layer is interconnected with the previous functional component layer, or the next functional component layer, or the radiation array layer (1), or the mounting base layer (3) by means of flangeless integrated stack alignment welding. The functional component layer (2) is an array cavity structure formed by opening a cavity on a metal substrate. The integrated processing and forming of the functional component cavity array is completed by directly opening a cavity at the array element position of the substrate of the functional component layer (2). Then, through high-precision positioning and alignment between layers, all functional component layers together with the radiation array layer (1) and the mounting base layer (3) are welded together in one go. The substrate of the functional component layer (2) includes: an upper structural plate, a transformation section structural plate and a lower structural plate welded in sequence; When the input port of the array antenna is a rectangular waveguide port with a regular arrangement of rectangular grids, and the radiating array is sparsely and irregularly arranged, the functional component layer (2) consists of two functional components: an equal phase transmission component and a port transformation component. The equal phase transmission component is used to complete the same phase transmission under different physical transmission paths between array elements, and the port transformation component is used to complete the conversion from the rectangular waveguide port to the circular waveguide port of the array antenna element. The equal phase transmission component and the port transformation component are formed by opening a cavity on the metal substrate of the functional component layer (2). The equal phase transmission component and the port transformation component are integrated on one functional component layer or on two functional component layers respectively.

2. The terahertz array antenna stacked structure according to claim 1, characterized in that, A number of array antenna elements (101) are provided on the radiating array layer (1). The array antenna elements (101) are laid on the substrate of the radiating array layer (1) in a predetermined layout to form an antenna array.

3. The terahertz array antenna stacked structure according to claim 2, characterized in that, Set the layout method, including: regular grid array layout method or sparse irregular array layout method.

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