Rotman lens yields cheap millimeter wave radar

17 Jun 2002

Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have designed and built a prototype Rotman lens that operates at millimeter wave frequencies.Because the lens has no moving parts, no phase shifters, and can be formed in plastic, the electronically-scanned device offers an inexpensive, rugged, reliable and compact alternative to current millimeter wave antenna technologies.

Ekkehart (Otto) Rausch, senior research scientist at the Georgia Tech Research Institute believes the prototype is the first Rotman lens to operate at a frequency as high as 37 GHz. Variations of the antenna could be used in a range of military and civilian applications, including tank radars, all-weather aircraft landing systems, communications equipment, missile seekers and automobile collision avoidance systems.