The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jun. 18, 2002
Filed:
Sep. 01, 2000
Louis J. Jasper, Jr., Fulton, MD (US);
The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army, Washington, DC (US);
Abstract
A device for generating and radiating pulses of radio frequency/microwave energy in response to pulses of laser light in which a metal layer is ohmically bonded to each side of a substrate of semiconductior material and an antenna bowtie pattern is ohmically bonded to the metal layers to form a feed structure for a Luneburg lens type antenna. There is at least one aperture available on the substrate of the semiconductor material for permitting laser light to reach the disk to produce photoconduction. The photoconductive switch is electrically connected to the storage device to facilitate fast discharge of the stored energy through the switch. The feed structure is mounted on a motorized support stand, which is connected to a center post by an arm that can rotate 360° in the azimuthal direction and ±90° in elevation. The feed structure is located on the outermost shell of the Luneburg lens, and is concave to conform to the focal radius of curvature of the outermost shell. The feed structure remains at a fixed radius from the center of the Luneburg lens as it rotates about the outermost shell. One embodiment uses a hemispherical Luneburg type lens to produce a highly directional beam by having the rays from the feed structure enter the Luneburg lens and reflect off of the ground plane. The other embodiment uses a spherical, or an almost spherical Luneburg type lens to produce a highly directional beam by having the radiation from the feed structure enter the Luneburg lens and speadout to emerge from the opposite diagonal point as a parallel beam. Both embodiments can rapidly scan 360° in the azimuthal direction and approximately ±90° in elevation.