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The packaging technology for transitions to dielectric waveguides in the frequency range above 100 GHz is complex and must be highly precise, and the waveguides are usually permanently connected. This letter presents a transition from a monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) to a ���exible dielectric waveguide at G-Band (140���220 GHz), which is self-aligning and, thus, reduces the requirements for packaging accuracy. Furthermore, the transition is mechanically decoupled to avoid mechanical stress to the MMIC and to reconnect it arbitrarily often. A patch radiator on a quartz-glass carrier is excited by a coupler on the MMIC. It feeds the HE11 mode into a rigid, high-permittivity dielectric dome, which increases the coupling ef���ciency. The ���exible dielectric waveguide is placed above the dome and ���xed with Rohacell half shells. The minimum insertion loss measured with a back-end-of-line (BEOL) MMIC is 3.0 dB at 168 GHz., acceptedVersion

Viele Anwendungen im industriellen Umfeld können durch kostengünstige Radarsensoren, die in Silizium-Germanium hochintegriert sind, erschlossen werden. Ausgehend von den typischen Anforderungen und Randbedingungen wird ein Systemdesign vorgestellt, mit dem ein möglichst leistungsstarker Radarsensor erreicht werden kann. Dabei werden die Erzeugung eines geringen Phasenrauschens bei der Betriebsfrequenz und der systematische Vergleich eines monostatischen und eines bistatischen Radarchips diskutiert. Durch die Integration der Antennen auf den Radarchip ist das gesamte Millimeterwellen-Frontend auf einem MMIC realisiert. Die Chip-integrierten Antennen werden innerhalb der Aufbau- und Verbindungstechnik umfassend erläutert. Als kostengünstige Häusungstechnologie werden QFN-Gehäuse betrachtet. Sowohl für offene als auch teilvergossene QFN-Gehäuse werden einfach umsetzbare Gehäuseanpassungen vorgestellt, die eine sinnvolle Verwendung über 100 GHz ermöglichen. Abschließend wird der modulare Radardemonstrator vorgestellt und u. a. in Feldtests in einer industriellen Tankanlage charakterisiert.

Feeding integrated antennas during a measurement requires special feeding structures. Due to the small antenna dimensions, these feeding structures are often much bigger than the antenna under test (AUT) itself and with chip sizes of around 1 mm2, the achievable separation between antenna and feed is limited. Wafer probes have to be used to feed the AUT during passive antenna measurements and present a large reflective surface in close proximity to the AUT. Reflections from the wafer probe cause interference on the measurement surface and distort the results. The same is true for active antenna measurements, where bondwires and the package can have a significant effect on the radiated fields. The fragility and size of the components do not allow to reduce reflections with absorbers, which is why modal filtering was used in this paper to mitigate undesired reflections and improve the measurement result through postprocessing. Two issues that limit the performance of the algorithm are discussed, namely, phase center inaccuracies of the AUT and a limited measurement surface. It is shown that modal filtering is applicable to integrated antenna measurements at frequencies over 100 GHz and that a significant improvement in the measured radiation pattern can be achieved. Furthermore, it is shown that the postprocessed results make it possible to measure the directivity of integrated antennas, despite strong probe reflections., acceptedVersion

Due to various error sources, accurate integrated antenna measurements can be difficult to achieve. This study analyses the accuracy of a measurement set-up for radiation pattern (RP), directivity and gain measurements. The main sources of uncertainty are pointed out and the overall achievable accuracy is determined. The expanded uncertainty budgets for RP, directivity and gain measurements are 0.2, 0.2 and 1.7 dB, respectively. Furthermore, the phase centre of the antenna under test (AUT) is calculated for a more accurate and faster antenna alignment. The standard deviation of the calculated phase centre position is 50 ��m on each axis., acceptedVersion

The increasing demand for radar sensors and the wide distribution of handheld communication devices push the development of low-cost components with a small form factor. One approach to achieve smaller, low-cost devices is the integration of the required components on a monolithic microwaveintegrated circuit (MMIC). At frequencies above 100 GHz, passive components are small enough to be integrated onto a chip, and the advances in semiconductor technology make it possible to build active components that can operate at millimeter (mm)-wave frequencies [1], [2]. The available bandwidths of several gigahertz at mm-wave frequencies offer high data rates for communication devices or high resolution for remote-sensing applications. By integrating the radio-frequency (RF) components and the antennas, lossy off-chip transitions can be avoided, thus limiting the required connections to the power supply and baseband signals., acceptedVersion

The results of integrated antenna measurements are often severely distorted by reflections from the measurement environment. In order to contact and feed passive integrated antennas wafer probes have to be used. Wafer probes are not only electrically large, but are also located in the immediate environment of the antenna under test (AUT) and reflect parts of the radiated signals. This causes significant distortions and erroneous results in radiation pattern, directivity, and gain measurements. Custom wafer probes have been used to reduce reflections for meaningful measurement results, but these special probes are difficult to fabricate and expensive. If the antenna is measured within an active system that generates the transmit signal, waver probes are not required to feed the AUT, but bond wires, circuit elements close to the antenna, and surface wave radiation still limit the achievable accuracy of the measurements. In this paper modal filtering is used to mitigate the influence of unwanted distortions in post-processing for both wafer probe and active antenna measurements. It is shown that modal filtering can be applied to integrated antenna measurements above 100GHz and that reflections from wafer probes, bond wires, and the PCB can be reduced significantly for passive and active antenna measurements, respectively., acceptedVersion

In order to measure antenna properties precisely at frequencies above 100 GHz, elaborate measurement techniques are required. This is especially challenging for integrated antennas, as probes require a steady, rigid measurement setup to avoid damage. This paper introduces an antenna measurement setup that allows fast and reliable 3-dimensional antenna pattern measurements in a frequency range of 60 GHz to 330 GHz. The system consists of a probe station, a vector network analyzer (VNA) and an industrial robotic arm with six axes. The robot ensures highly repeatable and accurate measurements and allows high flexibility in terms of scan geometry and resolution. Using a probe station, this setup not only supports measurements of waveguide-fed antennas, but also integrated antennas. After explaining the basic setup, measurement results are shown to demonstrate the capability of the system., acceptedVersion