Compact Radar Front-End for an Imaging Radar at 300 GHz

Abstract

Systems based on (sub-)millimeter-wave technology demand compact transceivers to be commercialized. We have developed a compact front-end for a three-dimensional imaging homodyne radar at 300 GHz where a commercial subharmonic mixer acts both as a transmitter and as a receiver, due to the finite isolation between the local oscillator and radio frequency ports of the mixer. This allows the radar electronics compactness and a reduction in power consumption and cost without sacrificing imaging quality, which is the fundamental figure of merit for this application.