A bi-directional quasi-optical lens amplifier

Abstract

A 24-element bi-directional quasi-optical lens amplifier array is presented. The lens amplifier array is designed for X-band, and operates in transmission mode. Single-pole double-throw (SPDT) switches are used to switch between transmit and receive amplifiers. The lens amplifier array demonstrates gains of 5.5 dB at 10.1 GHz in receive mode, and 2 dB at 10.2 GHz in transmit mode, with more than 15-dB ON/OFF isolation. Several applications for the lens amplifier array are demonstrated: a quasi-optical transceiver front-end, reduction of multipath fading, and a multiuser frequency reuse application.