This work aims to build a measurement test bench for wideband mixer EVM characterization at sub-terahertz frequencies. A VNA based setups with two frequency extenders are implemented. While one of the VNA sources can be used as the LO input, the other source will be swept over a frequency grid so that the RF output of the mixer under test will be down converted and read out tone by tone. Then the modulated signals are expected be reconstructed from the frequency domain measurement result, which will be demodulated for EVM characterization. A two-tier calibration method is used to extract the absolute power from the target RF channel. The key performance of the mixer under test, such as conversion loss, image rejection ratio and linearity are measured over an IF bandwidth up to 4GHz. Nevertheless, the major challenge for VNA based EVM measurements are the unhandled phase between the two sources of VNA, preventing the system to reconstruct a stable time domain signal. To solve this problem, an auxiliary phase channel setup is proposed, which can carry the unhandled phase information from one of the VNA source, thus providing a stable phase measurement for EVM measurements. To validate the proposed setups, the adjusted phase is derived from measurement results of the MUT channel and the results from the auxiliary channel. A phase stability of $\pm$5 degrees can be achieved with the proposed setups. Finally, EVM characterization is performed based on the proposed setup. A EVM floor of -30dB is achieved with a 300MHz QPSK signal, the error due to thermal noise is reduced due to the narrow band receiver of the VNA.

In the framework of this MSc thesis the analysis of core-shell leaky-wave lens antennas is presented, based on a combination of asymptotic and Physical Optics techniques. This study aims to develop an analysis approach which can be subsequently used for the optimization of the Fly’s Eye antenna concept, through enabling the investigation of shaped variations of the core lens. The main difficulty of this prospect refers to the surface of the core lens being in the near field of the leaky wave feeding structure, since the evaluation of the near field is in general a computationally inefficient process. Adhering to this conclusion, a big part of this thesis elaborates on a very fast approach for the derivation of the near field, through asymptotically approximating the involved integral expressions. More specifically, the presented method exploits the nature of the near field in the examined stratification through introducing an approximation in the integral expressions, which in turn enables their asymptotic evaluation in a straightforward manner. Subsequently, the near field on the core lens is combined with a set of Physical Optics techniques in order to develop a model for the integrated lens architecture of the Fly’s Eye antenna. Modelling the core-shell structure in such a manner enables its study in a much more computationally efficient fashion compared to the use of a full-wave simulator. In addition, it facilitates the investigation of structural alterations in the antenna concept, like shaped variations of the core lens. The derived model presented in this thesis also contributed to the measurement campaign of the Fly’s Eye antenna prototype, through identifying a problematic component in the assembled prototype.

In the framework of this MSc thesis, the analysis and design guidelines for part of the quasi-optical system of a proposed astronomical instrument, called TIFUUN, are presented. The TIFUUN instrument is an imaging spectrometer, planned to be placed in the ASTE telescope to perform ground-based astronomical observations in the mm-submm wavelength regime. Part of the instrument development involves the design of the quasi-optical system coupling the radiation from the telescope’s main dish to the spectrometer array. In this thesis, the focal plane array of antennas, as well as the first component of the quasi-optical chain are analyzed and two different design approaches are presented, as candidate geometries. Each of them satisfies the requirements of different science surveys targeted by TIFUUN. The first examined architecture is comprised of a focal plane array of on-chip feeding elements under a single hyper-hemispherical lens, which is then coupled geometrically to a hyperbolic lens. The second geometry is instead comprised of an array of integrated elliptical lenses, with a single on-chip feeding element per lens, diffractively coupled to a hyperbolic lens. The methodologies to efficiently analyze these kinds of geometries are Geometrical Optics (GO) combined with analysis in reception for the first design approach and Coherent Fourier Optics (CFO) for the second one. During the design process, the performance of both architectures is optimized throughout the field of view, using methodologies to correct for phase aberrations, such as feed displacement inside the lenses and symmetric shaping of dielectric surfaces. The design guidelines provided and insights obtained during this MSc project will be utilized to develop the quasi-optical system of the TIFUUN instrument, within the limited space of its cryostat.

Recently, there has been an increasing demand for security in public places. As a result, non-destructive and fast millimetre-wave and submillimetre-wave imaging systems have gained more and more attention.
This project is based on Concealed Objects Stand-off Real-Time Imaging for Security (CONSORTIS), which is a European next-generation airport security imaging radar system published in 2017. In this project, we will discuss the design of the lens antenna illuminated by a leaky wave waveguide antenna for a large format focal plane array with wide scanning capabilities in three typical cases. The Coherent Fourier Optics (CFO) and leaky wave antenna design methodologies are used in this project. The system will be analysed in reception mode and then validated in transmission mode. We have a very promising performance with an aperture efficiency of about 80% in the centre and 47% at the edge of the array with a shaped top and AR coating. The directivity of the antenna at the edge is about 50.2 dB. And the scan loss is about -2.3 dB, which means it can scan about 10,000 beams in total.

This master thesis explores the capacity of MIMO arrays for communication in the radiative near field through antenna design. This research applies an in-house MATLAB model based on free space Green’s function to calculate the channel matrix, revealing the potential increase of capacity through the use of incoherent arrays with directive antennas in the incoherent range without the need for interference cancellation.

The optimization of the equivalent aperture current and the design of lens antennas are the key points in realizing the ultimate goal of maximizing the capacity between antenna arrays. The accuracy of the channel matrix from the MATLAB model and the performance of the designed lens antennas are validated through full-wave simulation using CST. Furthermore, the internal reflections between the arrays are studied, offering solutions to mitigate the effects of the reflections for future array designs.

This work serves as a feasibility study, providing sufficient confidence in the application of communication systems in the radiative near field without the need for signal processing (e.g. interference cancellation, multi-path cancellation, etc.). Furthermore, the methodology in this thesis offers insights for future antenna designs for different applications. In summary, this study proposes and validates a potential solution for the design of next-generation communication systems.

This work demonstrates the imaging of (near) diffraction-limited images in the THz domain using a CMOS integrated camera. A Quasi Optical Setup is fabricated, aligned the radiation patterns and losses are characterized.

Front-end Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuits (MMICs) have recently become commercially available for frequencies above 100 GHz. However, achieving low-loss and broadband interconnections between the antenna and MMICs is challenging for integrated front ends at these frequencies. This thesis presents the characterization of a flip-chip interconnection used for an integrated front end at 150 GHz (G-band) with an on-package leaky-wave dual lens antenna. Two paths for the front-end integration have been proposed. The first path adopts CPW transmission lines on 500 μm-thick fused silica and provides easy assembly and seamless flip-chip capabilities. The second uses microstrip transmission lines on 50 μm-thick fused silica and provides lower transmission line loss but a challenging assembly and flip-chip interconnection. In this thesis, a path toward microstrip and CPW flip-chip interconnections has been outlined at the high millimeter-wave frequencies. Two-port test structures using CPW transmission lines were developed, adopting a double Thru-Reflect-Line calibration and allowing for accurate extracting of the interconnection response. The final interconnection to the MMICs has been realized using a via-less CPW to microstrip transition with high impedance transmission line S11 matching compensation. The simulated S11 and S22 are below -12 dB, Ohmic loss below 0.6 dB, radiation loss below 0.4 dB, and transmission line losses around 0.15 dB/mm.

Within the framework of this thesis, the analysis of the infinite slot leaky wave antenna is presented and a new geometry for the feed of a leaky lens is explored. Firstly, the analysis of the propagating leaky wave modes (TM0 and slot modes) is done leading to the findings about the location of the slot pole w.r.t. k0, as well as the contributions of the leaky waves and how they behave when the thickness of air-cavity and width of the slot change. Secondly, the spectral analysis of the near field is put forward with the goal of gaining deeper understanding of the leaky wave modes’ behaviour and their asymmetry. Finally, a new geometry: leaky wave antenna with multiple slots is explored and its potential of lowering the levels of cross pol. is shown.

In this thesis, an efficient optimization method is described for synthesizing lens antennas fabricated in low permittivity plastic materials to achieve wide scanning performances. The method is based on an antenna in reception representation. The optimized parameters are the location and orientation of the antenna feeder, lens angular region and its shape by adding Zernike polynomials to standard ellipsoidal shape. The synthesized lens antennas achieve scan losses lower than 3dB while scanning up to 60°. The presented theoretical results are validated using full wave simulations. Furthermore, an efficient analysis method based on Geometrical Optics and ray tracing is developed. This method is applied to the study of multi lens Quasi-Optical structures. The presented theoretical results are validated by multi surface Physical-Optics approach.

Photoconductive antennas (PCAs) are an interesting candidate for imaging systems due to their relatively low cost and ability to provide a bandwidth of hundreds of GHz. The large bandwidth of PCAs allows for sub-millimeter depth resolution. However, the often-used single-element PCAs are intrinsically limited in the amount of power they can radiate due to several saturation effects. To increase the radiated power, array-based PCAs have been introduced by the scientific community. In the first part of this work, the impact of adding a leaky wave cavity to a lens-coupled Photoconductive Connected Array (PCCA) is studied. The fields radiated by the lens are found using a Physical Optics method, and the effect of the lens on the energy spectra of the radiated fields is quantified. Measurements of two fabricated PCCA geometries are compared with simulations. In the second part of this work, an imaging setup is designed to benchmark several state-of-the-art PCAs. Subsequently, the coupling between two PCAs in an imaging setup is studied via a field-matching formalism.

Millimeter- and submillimeter wave applications, such as point-to-point wireless communications in beyond-5G scenarios, long-range automotive radars and astronomy and astrophysics science cases from space require antennas with high-gain beams that are steerable. At lower (microwave) frequencies, fully sampled phased arrays with thousands of elements have been demonstrated for this purpose. However, above roughly 100 GHz, integrated-circuit technology faces major bottlenecks in terms of size, power efficiency, thermal management and technological immaturity. Consequently, only integrated phased arrays with very few elements have been reported in the literature above 100 GHz. To still achieve the gain and enable beam scanning, mechanically actuated reflectors are now typically employed. However, such solutions are bulky, power-hungry and do not allow rapid beam steering. To overcome these limitations, we propose, analyze, design, fabricate and demonstrate a new antenna architecture in this thesis: the scanning lens phased array. The scanning lens phased array is a compact, low-power and very sparse array of integrated lens antennas that we demonstrate with scanning capabilities up to 25 degrees around broadside. A hybrid electro-mechanical approach to beam steering is employed: the array factor is scanned electronically and the element patterns are steered mechanically. The grating lobes that arise in the array factor due to the array’s sparsity are suppressed by the high directivity of the lens elements. This results in a clean, highgain beam towards the desired scan angle...@en

Lens array architectures are being developed for high frequency applications such as phased arrays for 5G point-to-point communications, Fly’s Eye lens arrays for wideband wireless communications and scanning phased arrays at sub-millimeter wavelengths. Each of these applications employ different feed configurations, lens geometries and require specific feed isolation levels. In these architectures, the mutual coupling between feeds is an important design criteria. This project proposes a theoretical model based on Geometrical Optics and Physical Optics to represent the multiple reflections in a dielectric lens antenna and its impact on the mutual coupling between lens feeders. This model is then employed to study the mutual coupling in architectures with different feed models, edge illumination levels, feed positions, lens diameters and dielectric materials.

The objective of the project is to design a system which can control the temperature of a va-porizing liquid microthruster (VLM). The liquid in a VLM is heated using a heater resistor.This resistor will be used to both heat the liquid and measure the temperature.In this thesis the subsystem responsible for the measurements and the conversion of the mea-sured signals to the digital domain will be discussed. We propose a method where short measure-ment current pulses of a fixed amplitude are applied to the heater resistor. As an optimization,these pulses are omitted when a certain current threshold has been met.Results show that the system can measure temperature with±1◦C accuracy, however more fullsystem measurements are required to ensure functionality as a whole.

Due to technology trends such as autonomous driving, the need for robust safety in the automotive industry increases. The safety comes from sensors that are able to image the environment and systems that use this information to avoid incidents and retain maximum safety. Detection of pedestrian has high importance since a missed detection can be lethal. Current solutions for pedestrian detection are based on infrared and optical cameras. With these solutions it can be challenging to detect pedestrians under conditions such as cold/foggy conditions, especially during nighttime. In this scenario through clothes penetration of infrared radiation is poor. Instead, terahertz radiation penetrates better through clothes, making terahertz imagers a viable solution to increase safety in the
framework of autonomous driving.

The focus on automotive sensors requires that the solution needs to be low-cost, low power and compact. Traditional passive terahertz detectors are based on cryogenically cooling or active illumination of the target to maximize the sensitivity, since this is not applicable in automotive designs we design an array that can be combined with direct detectors to increases the sensitivity by maximizing the effective bandwidth. The sensor needs to have sufficient resolution to detect the pedestrians at distances up to 10 meters combined with sufficient sensitivity to also perform in weather conditions such as fog.

In this thesis the interference aspect of the Fly's Eye multi-beam antenna system of \cite{FlyEye}, a new base station concept to tackle the high data rate demands in spart stadiums is investigated. In particular the co-polar interference performance and the degree of multipath interference within the single spatial channel are considered. A tool is developed to quickly evaluate the co-polar isolation (CI) achieved by a given base station element pattern. With it the design described in \cite{MartaLens} is evaluated and it is found that the pattern achieves a CI of 11.2dB.
The single spatial channel of the system, stretching from the base station suspended above the pitch to the user terminal (e.g. a smartphone) held by the user located in the seating area of the stadium, is analyzed in downlink and applying a deterministic approach. Three frequencies - 120GHz, 25GHz and 5GHz - as well as the two separate cases of smooth and rough surface scatterers are considered.
The incident and scattered field of the main scatterers in the geometry are studied in the region in front of the user, where the terminal is likely to be held.
Further the received power for various terminal locations and orientation angles is evaluated.
It is shown that an antenna with directivity larger than 7dB is sufficient to effectively filter out any unwanted multipath. Further, allowing for more complex terminal antenna structures enables to implement the concept of direct NLOS and maintain connectivity in shadowed regions by pointing the antenna at the torso, although in the rough case the received power can still fluctuate about 10dB according to the location of the terminal.

In this work, a MATLAB based graphical user interface (GUI) tool is built to analyze Quasi-optical (QO) systems in reception with the Fourier Optics (FO) and Geometrical Optics (GO) methods. Five canonical QO components are discussed, namely parabolic reflectors, elliptical lenses, hemispherical lenses, hyperbolic lenses, and elliptical mirrors. The ray tracing technique is implemented to describe reception scenarios and visualize the phase aberrations in the QO systems. The FO method represents the fields focalized by a QO component on its focal plane as a Plane Wave Spectrum (PWS). This spectrum is calculated by using the GO method and can be used in spectral techniques like equivalent Floquet circuit. Moreover, the tool is able to use this spectrum to estimate the power delivered to an antenna placed at the focal plane. By obtaining this delivered power, the performance of the antenna-coupled QO system is analyzed, including pattern, directivity, common efficiency terms, and gain. In addition, the performance calculated in reception is validated by CST and GRASP full-wave simulation software. Therefore, this GUI tool represents a GO/FO based tool that can be used to analyze and design antenna-coupled QO systems in reception.

DESHIMA is a superconducting on-chip spectrometer using MKIDs in the sub-mm wavelength regime (240-720 GHz, 1:3 bandwidth). This thesis presents (1) an analysis of the quasi-optical system used for DESHIMA on the ASTE telescope in Chile (2) design of the room-temperature optics of this design and (3) a preliminary investigation into an ultra-wideband leaky-lens antenna suitable for multi-pixel, constant aperture efficiency operation to be used as a feed to high f-number (>2) reflectors. The designed and analyzed optics show good performance and tolerance for the fall 2017 campaign of DESHIMA-on-ASTE. The wideband investigation leads to constant, >70% optical efficiency over the 1:3 bandwidth for a single pixel design (f-num=3.7) or >55% optical efficiency with multiple pixels spaced at 2*\lambda*f-number (f-num=5). Future work must be done to optimize the radiation efficiency of the antenna over the whole bandwidth, which is now the largest obstacle to frequency-dispersion free aperture efficiency.