A compact and fully integrated FMCW radar transceiver combined with a dielectric lens

Electronic measurement systems in the THz frequency range are often bulky and expensive devices. While some compact single-chip systems operating in the high millimeter-wave frequency range have recently been published, compact measurement systems in the low THz frequency range are still rare. The emergence of new silicon-germanium (SiGe) semiconductor technologies allow the integration of system components, like oscillators, frequency multipliers, frequency dividers, and antennas, operating in the low THz frequency range, into a compact monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMIC), which contains most components to implement a low-cost and compact frequency-modulated continuous-wave-radar transceiver. This article presents a single transceiver solution containing all necessary components. It introduces a radar transceiver MMIC with a tuning range of and an output power of up to in the SG13G3 SiGe technology by IHP. The MMIC is complemented by a dielectric lens antenna design consisting of polytetrafluoroethylene, providing up to of directivity and half-power beam widths of 0.95 in transmit and receive direction. The suppression of clutter from unwanted targets deviating from antenna boresight more than 6 is higher than in E-and H-Plane.