We present an automated design procedure for the rapid realization of wideband millimeter-wave lens antennas. The design method is based upon the creation of a library of matched unit cells that comprise wideband impedance matching sections on either side of a phase-delaying core section. The phase accumulation and impedance match of each unit-cell is characterized over frequency and incident angle. The lens is divided into rings, each of which is assigned an optimal unit cell based on incident angle and required local phase correction given that the lens must collimate the incident wavefront. A unit-cell library for a given realizable permittivity range, lens thickness, and unit-cell stack-up can be used to design a wide variety of flat wideband lenses for various diameters, feed elements, and focal distances. A demonstration GRadient INdex (GRIN) lens antenna is designed, fabricated, and measured in both far-field and near-field chambers. The antenna functions as intended from 14 to 40GHz and is therefore suitable for all proposed 5G MMW bands, $Ku$ - and $Ka$ -band fixed satellite services. The use of intrinsically matched unit cells results in aperture efficiency ranging from 31% to 72% over the 2.9:1 bandwidth which is the highest aperture efficiency demonstrated across such a wide operating band.

中文翻译：

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具有固有匹配单元的高效宽带 GRIN 透镜

我们提出了一种快速实现宽带毫米波透镜天线的自动化设计程序。该设计方法基于匹配单元库的创建，该库包括位于相位延迟核心部分两侧的宽带阻抗匹配部分。每个单元的相位累积和阻抗匹配在频率和入射角上都有特征。透镜被分成多个环，每个环根据入射角和所需的局部相位校正被分配一个最佳单元，因为透镜必须准直入射波前。对于给定的可实现介电常数范围、透镜厚度和单元堆叠，单元库可用于设计各种直径、馈电元件和焦距的各种扁平宽带透镜。在远场和近场室中设计、制造和测量演示 GRadient INdex (GRIN) 透镜天线。该天线在 14 至 40GHz 范围内按预期运行，因此适用于所有提议的 5G MMW 频段、$Ku$ 和 $Ka$ 频段固定卫星服务。使用本质匹配的晶胞可在 2.9:1 带宽上实现 31% 至 72% 的孔径效率，这是在如此宽的工作频段内展示的最高孔径效率。