Glass-based liquid crystal phased array antenna unit and array thereof

Abstract

This invention provides a glass-based liquid crystal phased array antenna unit and its array, relating to the field of phased array antenna technology. In this invention, the upper and lower electrodes of a liquid crystal phase shifter, together with a third glass substrate, a fourth glass substrate, a radiating structure metal ground, and a liquid crystal phase shifter metal ground, form a liquid crystal stripline. Vertically, the orthographic projections of the upper and lower electrodes of the liquid crystal phase shifter overlap and alternately extend, forming the stripline portion of the liquid crystal stripline, with a stepped height variation. This improves the phase-shifting efficiency of the liquid crystal phase shifter and reduces its overall size. Furthermore, the discrete patch array in this invention forms a radiating structure, solving the problem that the high dielectric constant of the glass material makes it difficult for glass-based phased array antennas to achieve wide bandwidth and wide-angle scanning.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of phased array antenna technology, specifically to a glass-based liquid crystal phased array antenna element and its array. Background Technology

[0002] With the development of mobile internet and IoT communication technologies, especially low-Earth orbit satellite communication technologies, the demand for low-cost, high-performance beam-scanning antennas in the civilian sector is becoming increasingly urgent. Phased array antennas are the most widely used type of beam-scanning antenna. They achieve beam scanning by controlling the phase difference between antenna elements in the array, offering advantages such as fast scanning speed and strong beamforming capability. However, traditional phased array antennas rely heavily on the use of numerous transceiver (T / R) components, making them expensive and difficult to promote on a large scale.

[0003] Liquid crystal phased array antennas utilize the adjustable dielectric constant of liquid crystals to achieve beam scanning, making them a low-cost alternative to traditional phased array antennas. In particular, glass-based liquid crystal phased array antennas based on display LCD panel production lines have extremely broad application prospects in the civilian sector due to their advantages in response speed and industrial application. On one hand, the response speed of a liquid crystal phased array antenna is negatively correlated with the thickness of the liquid crystal layer. Generally, when the liquid crystal layer thickness is less than 10 micrometers, the response speed of the liquid crystal phased array antenna will decrease to less than tens of milliseconds, which can meet the application requirements of many civilian scenarios. The liquid crystal layer thickness in current display LCD panels is typically several micrometers, consistent with the requirements of fast-response liquid crystal phased array antennas for liquid crystal layer thickness. On the other hand, the processing technology required for liquid crystal phased array antennas is similar to the existing production processes of display LCD panel production lines. A large number of surplus or soon-to-be-surplus 5.5-generation lines or lower-generation lines can meet the processing requirements of liquid crystal antennas after upgrading with thick metal film technology, resulting in low production line costs and low product standardization difficulty.

[0004] However, glass-based liquid crystal phased array antennas currently face at least the following problems: the phase shifting efficiency of liquid crystal phase shifters is low, resulting in a large size of the 360° phase shifter required for phased array antennas. Summary of the Invention

[0005] (a) Technical problems to be solved

[0006] To address the shortcomings of existing technologies, this invention provides a glass-based liquid crystal phased array antenna unit and its array, solving the technical problem of low phase shifting efficiency of liquid crystal phase shifters.

[0007] (II) Technical Solution

[0008] To achieve the above objectives, the present invention provides the following technical solution:

[0009] A glass-based liquid crystal phased array antenna unit includes a first glass substrate, a second glass substrate, a third glass substrate, a liquid crystal layer, and a fourth glass substrate stacked together.

[0010] The first glass substrate is located at the top layer, and its surface is provided with a radiating structure;

[0011] The second glass substrate is located below the first glass substrate, and its surface is provided with a radiating metal structure ground that is spatially offset from the radiating structure. The radiating metal structure ground is provided with a coupling gap through it.

[0012] The third glass substrate is located below the second glass substrate, and its lower surface is provided with the upper electrode of the liquid crystal phase shifter and the radial structure feed transmission line, which is located at the end of the liquid crystal phase shifter.

[0013] The fourth glass substrate is located below the third glass substrate, separated by a liquid crystal layer. Its upper surface is provided with a lower electrode of the liquid crystal phase shifter that is the same as or similar to the upper electrode structure of the liquid crystal phase shifter, and its lower surface is provided with a liquid crystal phase shifter metal ground.

[0014] The upper electrode and lower electrode of the liquid crystal phase shifter, together with the third glass substrate, the fourth glass substrate, the radiating structure metal ground, and the liquid crystal phase shifter metal ground, together form a liquid crystal stripline. In the vertical direction, the orthographic projections of the upper electrode and the lower electrode of the liquid crystal phase shifter overlap and are alternately arranged to form the stripline portion of the liquid crystal stripline, and the stripline height changes in a step.

[0015] Preferably, the radiating structure comprises a discrete patch array.

[0016] Preferably, the upper electrode and the lower electrode of the liquid crystal phase shifter are partially micro-patterned and generally form a wire-wound pattern;

[0017] The micro-pattern includes an open figure-eight structure formed by two adjacent circles, or an open figure-eight structure formed by adjacent rectangles, squares, ovals, or rhombuses; or an open structure of a single circle, rectangle, square, oval, or rhombus, or an open structure formed by multiple adjacent circles, rectangles, squares, ovals, or rhombuses.

[0018] The winding patterns include circular spiral windings with equal or unequal spacing, rectangular spiral windings, square spiral windings, single-turn circular windings, rectangular windings, and square windings.

[0019] Preferably, the coupling gap is in the form of a dumbbell-shaped, rectangular, elliptical, or spindle-shaped gap.

[0020] Preferably, the radiating structure feed transmission line adopts a three-segment gradient structure, wherein the first segment is a stripline with the same or similar stripline width as the liquid crystal phase shifter; the third segment is a stripline with an open end; and the second segment is a stripline connecting the first segment and the third segment.

[0021] Preferably, the third segment includes a fan-shaped widening structure, a trapezoidal widening structure, a T-shaped structure, or a non-widening rectangular structure.

[0022] Preferably, the radiating structure and the radiating metal structure are spatially offset, specifically meaning that:

[0023] When the radiating structure is disposed on the upper surface of the first glass substrate, the radiating metal structure is disposed on the upper or lower surface of the second glass substrate.

[0024] When the radiating structure is disposed on the lower surface of the first glass substrate, the radiating metal structure can only be disposed on the lower surface of the second glass substrate.

[0025] Preferably, the first glass substrate, the second glass substrate, the third glass substrate, and the fourth glass substrate are all made of low dielectric loss glass.

[0026] An expandable glass-based liquid crystal phased array antenna array includes several glass-based liquid crystal phased array antenna elements as described above, with rectangular grids arranged between each glass-based liquid crystal phased array antenna element.

[0027] Preferably, the rectangular grid is arranged in a 4*4, 8*8, or 16*16 pattern.

[0028] (III) Beneficial Effects

[0029] This invention provides a glass-based liquid crystal phased array antenna element and its array. Compared with the prior art, it has the following advantages:

[0030] In this invention, the upper electrode and lower electrode of the liquid crystal phase shifter with the same or similar structure, together with the third glass substrate, the fourth glass substrate, the radiating structure metal ground, and the liquid crystal phase shifter metal ground, constitute a liquid crystal stripline. In the vertical direction, the orthographic projection portions of the upper electrode and the lower electrode of the liquid crystal phase shifter overlap and are alternately arranged and extended to form the stripline portion of the liquid crystal stripline, with the stripline height varying in steps. This improves the phase shifting efficiency of the liquid crystal phase shifter and reduces the overall size of the liquid crystal phase shifter. Attached Figure Description

[0031] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention or the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative effort.

[0032] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a glass-based liquid crystal phased array antenna unit provided in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0033] Figure 2 An exploded view of the structure of a glass-based liquid crystal phased array antenna unit provided in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0034] Figure 3 This is a top view of a liquid crystal phase shifter provided in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0035] Figure 4 A side view of a liquid crystal phase shifter provided in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0036] Figure 5 This invention provides simulation results of the phase shift of a liquid crystal phase shifter under different bias voltages, as provided in an embodiment of the invention.

[0037] Figure 6 An active standing wave of a glass-based liquid crystal phased array antenna element under different scanning states is provided in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0038] Figure 7 This invention provides a scanning pattern of an expandable glass-based liquid crystal phased array antenna array in the angular domain of -60° to +60°. Detailed Implementation

[0039] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of the embodiments of the present invention clearer, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention are described clearly and completely. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present invention, not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0040] This application provides a glass-based liquid crystal phased array antenna unit and its array, which solves the technical problem of low phase shifting efficiency of liquid crystal phase shifters.

[0041] The technical solution in this application is to solve the above-mentioned technical problems, and the general idea is as follows:

[0042] In this embodiment of the invention, the upper electrode and lower electrode of the liquid crystal phase shifter with the same or similar structure, together with the third glass substrate, the fourth glass substrate, the radiating structure metal ground, and the liquid crystal phase shifter metal ground, constitute a liquid crystal stripline. In the vertical direction, the orthographic projection portions of the upper electrode and the lower electrode of the liquid crystal phase shifter overlap and are alternately arranged and extended to form the stripline portion of the liquid crystal stripline, with the stripline height varying in steps. This improves the phase shifting efficiency of the liquid crystal phase shifter and reduces the overall size of the liquid crystal phase shifter.

[0043] To better understand the above technical solutions, the following will provide a detailed explanation of the technical solutions in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and specific implementation methods.

[0044] Example 1:

[0045] like Figures 1-2 As shown, this embodiment of the invention provides a glass-based liquid crystal phased array antenna unit, which is composed of four glass substrates and their associated structures, specifically including a first glass substrate 1, a second glass substrate 2, a third glass substrate 3, a liquid crystal layer 5, and a fourth glass substrate 4 stacked together.

[0046] The first glass substrate 1 is located at the top layer, and its surface is provided with a radiation structure 11. The radiation structure 11 is used to radiate electromagnetic energy to the outside space or receive electromagnetic signals from the outside space.

[0047] The second glass substrate 2 is located below the first glass substrate 1, and its surface is provided with a radiating metal structure ground 22 that is spatially offset from the radiating structure 11. The radiating metal structure ground 22 is provided with a coupling gap 21.

[0048] The third glass substrate 3 is located below the second glass substrate 2, and its lower surface is provided with an upper electrode 31 for the liquid crystal phase shifter and a radial structure feed transmission line 32, the radial structure feed transmission line 32 being located at the end of the liquid crystal phase shifter. The radial structure 11 and the radial metal structure 22 mentioned here are spatially offset, specifically meaning:

[0049] When the radiating structure 11 is disposed on the upper surface of the first glass substrate 1, the radiating metal structure ground 22 is disposed on the upper or lower surface of the second glass substrate 2; when the radiating structure 11 is disposed on the lower surface of the first glass substrate 1, the radiating metal structure ground 22 can only be disposed on the lower surface of the second glass substrate 2 (that is, when the radiating structure 11 is disposed on the lower surface of the first glass substrate 1, the radiating metal structure ground 22 must not be disposed on the upper surface of the second glass substrate 2).

[0050] The fourth glass substrate 4 is located below the third glass substrate 3, separated by the liquid crystal layer 5. Its upper surface is provided with a liquid crystal phase shifter lower electrode 41, which has the same or similar structure as the upper electrode 31 of the liquid crystal phase shifter, and its lower surface is provided with a liquid crystal phase shifter metal ground 42. The liquid crystal phase shifter metal ground 42 can be printed on the lower surface of the fourth glass substrate 4, or it can be implemented using a separate metal plate.

[0051] The liquid crystal layer 5 is located between the third glass substrate 3 and the fourth glass substrate 4. Alignment layers are disposed on the upper and lower surfaces of the liquid crystal layer, a sealing structure is disposed at the edge, and a height control structure is disposed at the edge and inside. The thickness of the liquid crystal layer 5 can be 3-20 μm, but it should be noted that this should not be construed as a limitation on the scope of protection of this invention; those skilled in the art can determine the specific thickness according to actual needs.

[0052] Among them, the upper electrode 31 and lower electrode 41 of the liquid crystal phase shifter, together with the third glass substrate 3, the fourth glass substrate 4, the radiating structure metal ground 22, and the liquid crystal phase shifter metal ground 42, constitute the liquid crystal stripline, and as shown... Figures 3-4 As shown, in the vertical direction, the upper electrode 31 and the lower electrode 32 of the liquid crystal phase shifter are electrically isolated by the liquid crystal layer 5. Their orthogonal projections overlap and are alternately arranged to form the strip portion of the liquid crystal strip line, and the height of the strip line changes in a step.

[0053] When a bias voltage is applied between the upper and lower electrodes of the liquid crystal phase shifter, the dielectric constant of the liquid crystal changes, and the phase change of the electromagnetic signal after passing through the liquid crystal phase shifter changes, thus realizing an adjustable liquid crystal phase shifter. Since the main working part of the liquid crystal phase shifter is located in the gaps between alternating stripes, the electric field is most concentrated, resulting in the greatest controllability. This technical solution effectively improves the phase shifting efficiency of the liquid crystal phase shifter and reduces its overall size.

[0054] Furthermore, to address the technical problem of wide-angle scanning in current glass-based liquid crystal phased array antennas, considering that this is because the high dielectric constant of glass leads to strong surface wave resonance and significant degradation of antenna performance during large-angle scanning, in one embodiment, the radiating structure 11 of the glass-based liquid crystal phased array antenna unit includes a discrete patch array.

[0055] Optionally, it can consist of 9 discrete patches of different sizes, or it can be an array of other numbers of discrete patches; optionally, the patches can be set at equal intervals, or at unequal intervals, or set according to a specific pattern; optionally, it can be an array of discrete patches of the same size, or at similar or different sizes; optionally, it can be a rectangular patch, or a square, rhomboid, or irregularly shaped patch; optionally, it can be a complete patch, or a patch with chamfered corners, grooves, or internal holes.

[0056] This invention addresses the problem that glass-based phased array antennas struggle to achieve wide-angle scanning due to the high dielectric constant of glass materials and the resulting strong surface wave resonance by utilizing a discrete patch array design to suppress surface wave resonance.

[0057] Furthermore, in order to increase the equivalent length of the liquid crystal stripline, thereby improving phase-shifting efficiency, the size required for a 360° phase shift is reduced. In one embodiment, as... Figure 3 As shown, the upper electrode 31 and the lower electrode 41 of the liquid crystal phase shifter have micro-patterns in some parts and a winding pattern overall.

[0058] The micro-patterns are selected by increasing the local equivalent length of the micro-patterns, specifically including an open figure-eight structure formed by two adjacent circles, or an open figure-eight structure formed by adjacent rectangles, squares, ellipses, or rhombuses; or an open structure of a single circle, rectangle, square, ellipse, or rhombus, or an open structure formed by multiple adjacent circles, rectangles, squares, ellipses, or rhombuses.

[0059] The winding pattern adopts a winding method that increases the equivalent length of the liquid crystal phase shifter, specifically including circular spiral winding with equal or unequal spacing, rectangular spiral winding, square spiral winding, single-turn circular winding, rectangular winding, and square winding.

[0060] This invention employs a liquid crystal stripline design with localized micro-patterns, an overall winding pattern, and stepped variations in strip height to realize a liquid crystal phase shifter, thereby improving the phase shifting efficiency of the liquid crystal phase shifter and reducing its overall size.

[0061] Furthermore, to address the current limitations in glass-based liquid crystal phased array antennas due to the difficulty in fabricating metallized vias on the glass during liquid crystal display panel manufacturing, one embodiment addresses this issue. The coupling gap 21 is achieved by hollowing out a portion of the metal pattern on the radiating structure metal ground 22. This hollowed-out metal pattern can take the form of a dumbbell, rectangle, ellipse, spindle, or other shapes. The radiating structure feed transmission line 32 employs a three-segment gradient structure. The first segment is a stripline with a width similar to or the same as that of the liquid crystal phase shifter. The third segment is an open-ended stripline, which can include fan-shaped, trapezoidal, T-shaped, unstretched, or other rectangular structures. The second segment connects the first and third segments, and its length and width should be adjusted according to the antenna impedance matching to improve matching performance.

[0062] The embodiments of the present invention use the above-mentioned gradient power supply transmission line and dumbbell-shaped coupling gaps for coupling power supply, which avoids the use of metal vias and reduces the difficulty of the process.

[0063] Furthermore, the materials of the radiating structure, the upper and lower electrodes of the liquid crystal phase shifter, and the feed transmission line of the radiating structure are preferably metals. The materials of the metal ground of the radiating structure and the metal ground of the liquid crystal phase shifter can be copper, or aluminum, molybdenum, iron, nickel, gold, silver, molybdenum-aluminum-molybdenum, and other metal materials or alloy materials.

[0064] The first, second, third, and fourth glass substrates are all made of low dielectric loss glass, and the thickness of each pair can be the same or different. Preferably, the thickness of the fourth glass substrate is not less than 0.4 mm to ensure that the present invention has high structural strength.

[0065] Example 2:

[0066] This invention also provides an expandable glass-based liquid crystal phased array antenna array, comprising a plurality of glass-based liquid crystal phased array antenna elements as described above, wherein each glass-based liquid crystal phased array antenna element is arranged in a rectangular grid; the rectangular grid arrangement is preferably 4*4, 8*8 or 16*16.

[0067] For example, based on the above description, the following glass-based liquid crystal phased array antenna element is given:

[0068] The glass-based liquid crystal phased array antenna unit operates in the Ku band and is composed of four glass substrates. Specifically, it includes a radiating structure 11 composed of nine discrete rectangular patch arrays; a dumbbell-shaped coupling slot 21; an upper electrode 31 and a lower electrode 41 of the liquid crystal phase shifter, both of which have a micro-pattern of an open figure-eight structure composed of two adjacent circles; a radiating structure feed transmission line 32 composed of three segments of gradually tapered striplines with fan-shaped widened open-circuit striplines at the ends; and a liquid crystal layer 5 with a thickness of 5 μm.

[0069] like Figure 5 As shown, by controlling the bias voltage applied between the upper and lower electrodes of the liquid crystal phase shifter of the above-mentioned antenna unit, the liquid crystal phase shifter can provide an adjustable phase shift of more than 360° in the 12-16GHz frequency band, which can meet the phase shift requirements of continuous scanning of the entire angular domain of the phased array antenna.

[0070] like Figure 6 As shown, when the liquid crystal phased array antenna unit scans in the 13.2 to 16 GHz frequency band and the -60° to +60° angular domain, the active standing wave ratio is less than 3, which has broadband characteristics and can meet the requirements of wide bandwidth and wide angle scanning of antennas in communication, radar and other application scenarios.

[0071] like Figure 7 As shown, the phased array antenna array obtained by arranging the liquid crystal phased array antenna elements in a 16*16 rectangular grid can achieve a large-angle scanning capability of -60° to +60°.

[0072] Finally, it should be noted that although the liquid crystal phased array antenna unit and its array provided in the embodiments of the present invention are designed and implemented on a glass substrate, they can actually be designed and implemented on other process platforms, such as including but not limited to low temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC), high temperature co-fired ceramic (HTCC), printed circuit board (PCB), high density interconnect board (HDI), silicon-based process platforms, etc., which will not be elaborated here.

[0073] In summary, compared with existing technologies, it has the following beneficial effects:

[0074] 1. The embodiments of the present invention utilize discrete patch arrays to design a radiating structure, suppressing surface wave resonance, thus solving the problem that glass-based phased array antennas are difficult to achieve wide-angle scanning due to the high dielectric constant of glass materials and strong surface wave resonance.

[0075] 2. This invention employs a liquid crystal stripline design with local micro-patterns, an overall winding pattern, and stepped changes in strip height to realize a liquid crystal phase shifter, thereby improving the phase shifting efficiency of the liquid crystal phase shifter and reducing its overall size.

[0076] 3. In this embodiment of the invention, coupling power is achieved through the above-mentioned gradient power supply transmission line and dumbbell-shaped coupling gap, which avoids the use of metal vias and reduces the difficulty of the process.

[0077] It should be noted that, in this document, relational terms such as "first" and "second" are used only to distinguish one entity or operation from another, and do not necessarily require or imply any such actual relationship or order between these entities or operations. Furthermore, the terms "comprising," "including," or any other variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements includes not only those elements but also other elements not expressly listed, or elements inherent to such a process, method, article, or apparatus. Without further limitations, an element defined by the phrase "comprising one..." does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus that includes said element.

[0078] The above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present invention, and are not intended to limit it. Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that modifications can still be made to the technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments, or equivalent substitutions can be made to some of the technical features. Such modifications or substitutions do not cause the essence of the corresponding technical solutions to deviate from the spirit and scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention.

Claims

1. A glass-based liquid crystal phased array antenna unit, characterized by, It includes a first glass substrate (1), a second glass substrate (2), a third glass substrate (3), a liquid crystal layer (5), and a fourth glass substrate (4) stacked together. The first glass substrate (1) is located at the top layer, and its surface is provided with a radiating structure (11). The second glass substrate (2) is located below the first glass substrate (1), and its surface is provided with a radiating metal structure ground (22) that is spatially offset from the radiating structure (11). The radiating metal structure ground (22) is provided with a coupling gap (21) through it. The third glass substrate (3) is located below the second glass substrate (2), and its lower surface is provided with an upper electrode (31) of the liquid crystal phase shifter and a radial structure feeding transmission line (32), which is located at the end of the liquid crystal phase shifter. The fourth glass substrate (4) is located below the third glass substrate (3) with the liquid crystal layer (5) separated by it. The upper surface of the substrate is provided with the lower electrode (41) of the liquid crystal phase shifter, and the lower surface of the substrate is provided with the liquid crystal phase shifter metal ground (42). Among them, the upper electrode (31) and lower electrode (41) of the liquid crystal phase shifter together with the third glass substrate (3), the fourth glass substrate (4), the radiation structure metal ground (22), and the liquid crystal phase shifter metal ground (42) constitute the liquid crystal stripline. In the vertical direction, the orthographic projections of the upper electrode (31) and the lower electrode (41) of the liquid crystal phase shifter overlap and alternately extend to form the stripline of the liquid crystal stripline, and the height of the stripline changes stepwise. The upper electrode (31) and lower electrode (41) of the liquid crystal phase shifter are partially micro-patterned and generally form a winding pattern. The micro-pattern includes an open figure-eight structure formed by two adjacent circles, or an open figure-eight structure formed by adjacent rectangles, squares, ovals, or rhombuses; or an open structure of a single circle, rectangle, square, oval, or rhombus, or an open structure formed by multiple adjacent circles, rectangles, squares, ovals, or rhombuses. The winding patterns include circular spiral windings with equal or unequal spacing, rectangular spiral windings, square spiral windings, single-turn circular windings, rectangular windings, and square windings.

2. The glass-based liquid crystal phased array antenna unit as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The radiating structure (11) includes a discrete patch array.

3. The glass-based liquid crystal phased array antenna unit as described in claim 2, characterized in that, The coupling gap (21) can be dumbbell-shaped, rectangular, elliptical or spindle-shaped.

4. The glass-based liquid crystal phased array antenna unit as described in claim 2, characterized in that, The radiation structure feed transmission line (32) adopts a three-segment gradient structure, wherein the first segment is a strip line with the same or similar strip width as the liquid crystal phase shifter; the third segment is a strip line with an open end; and the second segment is a strip line connecting the first segment and the third segment.

5. The glass-based liquid crystal phased array antenna unit as described in claim 4, characterized in that, The third segment includes a fan-shaped widening structure, a trapezoidal widening structure, a T-shaped structure, or a rectangular structure that is not widened.

6. The glass-based liquid crystal phased array antenna unit as described in claim 2, characterized in that, The radiating structure (11) and the radiating metal structure (22) are spatially offset, specifically meaning that: When the radiating structure (11) is disposed on the upper surface of the first glass substrate (1), the radiating metal structure (22) is disposed on the upper or lower surface of the second glass substrate (2); When the radiating structure (11) is disposed on the lower surface of the first glass substrate (1), the radiating metal structure (22) can only be disposed on the lower surface of the second glass substrate (2).

7. The glass-based liquid crystal phased array antenna unit as described in claim 2, characterized in that, The first glass substrate (1), the second glass substrate (2), the third glass substrate (3) and the fourth glass substrate (4) are all made of low dielectric loss glass.

8. An expandable glass-based liquid crystal phased array antenna array, characterized in that, It includes several glass-based liquid crystal phased array antenna elements as described in any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein each glass-based liquid crystal phased array antenna element is arranged in a rectangular grid.

9. The expandable glass-based liquid crystal phased array antenna unit as described in claim 8, characterized in that, The rectangular grid arrangement size is 4*4, 8*8, or 16*16.

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