| Title: |
Guided Reflectometry Imaging Unit Using Millimeter Wave FMCW Radars |
| Authors: |
Pan, Mingming; Chopard, Adrien; Fauuet, Frederic; Mounaix, patrick; Guillet, Jean-Paul |
| Publisher Information: |
Zenodo |
| Publication Year: |
2025 |
| Collection: |
Zenodo |
| Description: |
This article introduces a novel and simplified implementation of a guided terahertz reflectometry system that leverages Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave (FMCW) radar technology for imaging and sensing applications. The innovation lies in the use of a single hollow-core dielectric waveguide to directly connect the radar transceiver to the sample, eliminating the need for bulky and alignment-sensitive optical components typically required in quasi-optical setups. The study demonstrates that by combining FMCW radar systems—known for their phase-sensitive distance measurement capabilities—with dielectric waveguides, it becomes possible to differentiate between parasitic reflections along the waveguide and true sensing signals at the probing end. This significantly improves the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and simplifies the system architecture, paving the way for compact, portable, and cost-effective terahertz sensing solutions. Two radar architectures are tested: 1. A high-performance III-V semiconductor-based 100 GHz SynView radar unit, which serves as the reference, and 2. A compact, low-cost 122 GHz SiGe radar chip from Silicon Radar GmbH, illustrating the versatility of the concept. The study incorporates 3D full-wave electromagnetic simulations to evaluate key aspects such as: • Power coupling efficiency between the radar and waveguide • Beam propagation and mode profiles within the waveguide • Influence of waveguide dimensions on performance • Imaging resolution and artefacts The use of a thin-walled polypropylene hollow-core waveguide is central to this approach. Its design is based on anti-resonant reflection guiding, enabling low-loss propagation in the air core. Coupling efficiencies are carefully examined through simulations and experiments, revealing an efficiency of ~70% with the horn-based SynView setup and ~18% with the compact patch-antenna chip. Imaging capabilities of both configurations are validated through raster scans of standard test targets. Results show that the simpler low-cost system ... |
| Document Type: |
article in journal/newspaper |
| Language: |
unknown |
| Relation: |
https://zenodo.org/records/15095392; oai:zenodo.org:15095392; https://doi.org/10.1109/TTHZ.2020.300833 |
| DOI: |
10.1109/TTHZ.2020.300833 |
| Availability: |
https://doi.org/10.1109/TTHZ.2020.300833; https://zenodo.org/records/15095392 |
| Rights: |
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International ; cc-by-4.0 ; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode |
| Accession Number: |
edsbas.A0568C |
| Database: |
BASE |