Confocal Ellipsoidal Reflectors with Phased Array Vivaldi Antenna Source for Imaging Systems

TL;DR

This paper introduces a confocal ellipsoidal reflector system with a Vivaldi phased array for near-field imaging, demonstrating reduced blockage effects and adjustable stand-off distance with a 40 cm field-of-view.

Contribution

It presents a novel dual-reflector design that minimizes blockage and allows easy adjustment of stand-off distance in near-field imaging systems.

Findings

Significant blockage reduction verified by ray-tracing simulation.

Field-of-view of approximately 40 cm demonstrated through full-wave simulation.

Stand-off distance can be tuned with minimal lateral source displacement.

Abstract

In this paper, an on-axis dual-reflector confocal ellipsoidal structure is presented for near-field imaging systems. In the proposed structure, the backscattered electromagnetic wave problem, known as the blockage effect, is reduced considerably using an elaborate design of the sub-reflector and precise alignment of the reflectors. The proposed geometry is analyzed, followed by a design example for the stand-off distance of 2 m. The blockage reduction characteristic is verified using ray-tracing simulation. Next, the scanning performance of the structure is investigated utilizing a Vivaldi phased array antenna as the source designed at the central frequency of 28 GHz. The full-wave simulations proved a field-of-view (FoV) of approximately 40 cm. Furthermore, tuning the proposed reflectors configuration standoff distance is examined with a point source. The ray-tracing simulations showed that stand-off distance can be easily changed up to tens of centimeters with just a few centimeters of source point lateral displacement.