JP2001156536A - Slot array antenna, manufacturing method of waveguide and method for forming circuit - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a slot array antenna used for various communication units that can realize high processing accuracy and reproducibility even at a high frequency with a high efficiency and compactness where a signal processing circuit and an antenna function are integrated and to provide its manufacturing method. SOLUTION: Vapor-depositing a conductor layer onto a surface of a dielectric square material obtained by cutting a dielectric parallel plate configures a waveguide. After joining a plurality of waveguides, a slot array 101 and a feeding circuit 102 are configured by transcribing apertures such as slots to the waveguides through the use of the photolithography technology, and after joining the slot array 101 and the feeding circuit 102, a high frequency circuit 103 with a multi-layered wiring structure is laminated onto the feeding circuit 102.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a slot array antenna integrated with a high-frequency circuit, a waveguide manufacturing method, and a waveguide circuit forming method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional slot array antenna is disclosed in, for example, Richard C.A. Compilation of Johnson "Ante
nna Engineering Handbook
third edition "page 9-23 FI
G. FIG. What is described in 9-18 is known. Here, a configuration of a conventional slot array antenna will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 9 shows a schematic structure of a conventional slot array antenna. In FIG. 9, for the sake of simplicity, the components of the slot array antenna are exploded and shown. In FIG. 9, reference numeral 901 denotes a power supply circuit;
2 is a waveguide array, 903 is a radiation slot array plate, 9
04 is a radome, 905 is a coupling slot, 906 is a radiation slot, and 907 is an antenna input terminal. less than,
The structure of each component will be described.

A power supply circuit 901 is a complicated branch circuit composed of a waveguide having a pipe structure. The power supply circuit 901 converts a power input from an input terminal 907 into a large number of wires while forming a power distribution ratio and a phase difference as required. It has the function of distributing and transmitting to the waveguide.

[0005] The waveguide array 902 has a large number of parallel deep grooves formed on a single metal plate, and the upper surface is covered with a metal radiating slot array plate 903 so that many waveguides are arranged in parallel. Waveguide array structure is realized.

The radiation slot plate 903 is formed by providing a large number of radiation slots 906 each having a rectangular opening in a thin metal plate. Antenna characteristics such as radiation characteristics are determined by the relative excitation intensity and phase difference of the radiation slot 906. Since the excitation intensity and phase are determined by the relative position of the radiation slot 906 with respect to the waveguide, the positional accuracy of the radiation slot 906 with respect to the waveguide array 902 must be high.

Power transmission from the power supply circuit 901 to the waveguide array 902 is performed by a coupling slot 905 penetrating the waveguide array 902. Waveguide array 90
The relative excitation distribution and phase of each waveguide in 2 are determined by the relative positions among the components of the feed circuit 901, the coupling slot 905, and the waveguide array 902. High processing accuracy and assembly accuracy are required for the coupling slot 905 and the waveguide array 902.

The operation principle of the conventional antenna having the above configuration will be described. The power input to the antenna input end 907 is distributed to a plurality of traveling waves having a phase difference and an amplitude ratio required immediately before the coupling slot 905 while transmitting the power through the feed circuit 901. Each traveling wave is further arranged by the coupling slot 905 and efficiently guided to the waveguide array 902 to generate a standing wave in each waveguide. The radiation slot 906 is excited by the standing wave excited in the waveguide, efficiently radiates the power in the waveguide to space, and operates as a slot array antenna.

[0009]

In order to realize desired antenna characteristics such as radiation directivity, a slot array antenna requires highly accurate control of the relative intensity and phase of electromagnetic waves radiated from each radiation slot to the outside. Is done. for that reason,
Each component of feed circuit, waveguide array, radiation slot,
In addition, high-precision processing of the coupling slot and the radiation slot is indispensable.

In recent years, the frequency band used in a new communication system has been significantly increased. In general, the higher the frequency, the higher processing accuracy is required for antenna fabrication, but this also applies to slot antennas, where the dimensional accuracy of the waveguide and the positioning accuracy of the slot relative to the waveguide are constantly high. Realization of accuracy is required. For example, if an attempt is made to construct a slot array antenna in the 78 GHz band used in a vehicle-mounted forward-looking radar, the cross-sectional size of the waveguide used is one vertical.
Therefore, the processing accuracy of the slot opening formed on the side wall of the waveguide is required to be several tens μm or less. Therefore, it has become difficult to realize a high-performance antenna by conventional machining.

At present, due to market demands such as portability and applicability of the communication device, the size of the entire device including the antenna is reduced.
The weight reduction is spurred, and there is a need to reduce the size and weight of antennas and high-frequency circuits that occupy a physically large area. In addition, in order to realize a high-performance communication device in a high frequency band, it is essential to place the antenna and the high-frequency circuit as close as possible.

However, the conventional slot array antenna is very large and heavy due to the presence of a huge metal feed circuit on the back surface. Further, in the conventional slot array antenna, the antenna and the high-frequency circuit are formed separately, and the two are coupled only when the communication device is assembled. As a result, there is a possibility that an unexpected characteristic deterioration occurs in an unnecessary wiring structure or a coupling portion.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a slot antenna manufacturing method which uses photolithography technology and ceramic processing technology to drastically improve the processing accuracy of a slot, a waveguide, and a feed circuit having a waveguide configuration. An object of the present invention is to solve the above problem by providing a slot array antenna structure in which a feed circuit can be configured to be small and integrated with a high-frequency circuit.

[0014]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention uses a slot array antenna structure in which a waveguide array, a feed circuit and a high frequency circuit are integrated. The waveguide array and the power supply circuit are configured using the same substrate, the substrate is a low-loss dielectric parallel plate substrate cut in parallel to form a dielectric substrate having a rectangular cross section, It is manufactured by depositing a good conductor thin film on the surface to form a line having the same function as a waveguide, and joining a plurality of these lines in parallel.

Further, the waveguide array is formed by simultaneously forming a coupling slot between a radiation slot and a power supply circuit at an appropriate position on the substrate surface by photolithography technology, and the power supply circuit includes: It is manufactured by laminating one or more substrates having coupling slots formed at appropriate positions by photolithography.

Further, the high-frequency circuit is directly formed on the back surface of the power supply circuit, and a signal processed by the high-frequency circuit is directly transmitted to the power supply circuit through a coupling slot formed on the power supply circuit. The high-frequency circuit has a multilayer wiring structure and realizes a line structure with less radiation loss, and at the same time, reduces the transmission loss by making the entire circuit compact. Further, in mounting components on a high-frequency circuit, further reduction in loss is achieved by using flip-chip mounting with a small connection loss in a high frequency band.

By using the above configuration and manufacturing method,
Dramatic improvement in waveguide processing accuracy and slot position accuracy, and integration of the antenna and high-frequency circuit can be realized, so that a small, lightweight, and high-performance slot array antenna can be obtained even in the millimeter wave band. .

[0018]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

(Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the structure of a slot array antenna integrated with a high-frequency circuit according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, 101 is a slot array, 1
Reference numeral 02 denotes a power supply circuit, and reference numeral 103 denotes a high-frequency circuit. The high-frequency circuit-integrated slot array antenna of the present invention has a structure in which components are stacked in the order of a high-frequency circuit 105, a power supply circuit 104, and a slot array 101. Also, 10
Reference numeral 4 denotes a radiation slot formed on the slot array 101, and 105 denotes a radio wave generated from the radiation slot 104.

The high frequency circuit 103 has a function of converting a low frequency band input signal into a high frequency band transmission signal. The high-frequency signal from the high-frequency circuit 103 is transmitted to the power supply circuit 102, where the signal is divided into a plurality of signals having an appropriate power distribution ratio and a phase difference. The divided high-frequency signal is transmitted to the slot array 101 and radiated to the outside world as a radio wave 105 through the radiation slot 104.

According to the present invention, the entire antenna system, which has conventionally been a large-sized structure, is reduced in size by integrating a high-frequency circuit, a feed circuit, and a slot array, thereby realizing good portability and mountability. Provided is a high-performance slot array antenna with a reduced transmission line length and low transmission loss. In addition, the low loss characteristic that is a feature of the present invention provides an improvement in antenna gain, and makes it possible to reduce the size of the antenna particularly in a millimeter wave band where loss in a transmission line is significant.

In the description of FIG. 1, the configuration as a transmitting antenna for radiating radio waves is shown.
It is needless to say that by using a high-frequency circuit for receiving or transmitting and receiving, the antenna operates as a receiving or transmitting and receiving antenna.

In the description of FIG. 1, the high-frequency circuit 103
Has shown the configuration for effecting the frequency conversion between the high frequency band and the low frequency band. However, it is needless to say that the configuration in which the high frequency circuit 103 includes all the operations of the signal processing system such as the operation of digital signal processing is also possible. No.

Next, the slot array 101 of the present invention
Will be described with reference to FIG. FIG.
3 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a detailed structure of the slot array 101. FIG. In FIG. 2, 201 is a waveguide, and 202 is a coupling slot. The slot array 101 is configured by fixing a large number of waveguides 201 in parallel using an adhesive having excellent conductivity. Opposite 2 of waveguide 201
On the surface, a plurality of radiating slots 104 and a plurality of coupling slots 202 are formed.

The coupling slot 202 has a power transmission function between the power supply circuit 102 and the slot array 101 shown in FIG. That is, the power from the power supply circuit 102 is efficiently transmitted to each waveguide 201 while generating a power distribution ratio and a phase difference necessary for realizing the radiation characteristics of the antenna.

Here, the detailed structure of the waveguide 201 constituting the slot array 101 will be described below. FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a detailed structure of the waveguide 201 of the present invention. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 301 denotes a dielectric, and 302 denotes a conductor layer.

The dielectric 301 is a one-dimensional dielectric having a rectangular cross section, and its surface is polished smoothly. The conductor layer 302 made of a good conductive material is
1. The surface of the dielectric body 301 is coated with a film thickness greater than the skin depth depending on the frequency of the electromagnetic wave propagating inside 1, thereby realizing low transmission loss.

The following advantages are obtained by adopting the waveguide structure of the present invention which is filled with a dielectric material, instead of the waveguide having a hollow pipe structure in the past.

First, the propagation wavelength of a waveguide filled with a dielectric is shorter than that of a conventional waveguide.
It is possible to suppress the generation of unnecessary grating lobes peculiar to the conventional slot antenna. Radiation slots in a normal slot array antenna are arranged at different positions with respect to the waveguide surface at a half wavelength interval of the propagation wavelength of the waveguide as shown in FIG. Therefore, a structure is generated in which a pair of adjacent radiation slots repeat at one wavelength interval of the propagation wavelength. Since the propagation wavelength of the waveguide of the hollow pipe is longer than the propagation wavelength in free space, the repetitive structure of one wavelength of the propagation wavelength causes unnecessary grating lobes. However, since the propagation wavelength in the waveguide in the present invention is shorter than that in the conventional waveguide, the grating lobe generated by the above-described repetitive structure can be positioned outside the visible region of the antenna.

A second advantage of the waveguide 201 according to the present invention is that it has higher processing accuracy and higher mass productivity than a waveguide having a conventional structure. This will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 4 shows a slot array 10 according to the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a process chart showing a manufacturing process of No. 1;

First, in step (1), the waveguide 201
A parallel plate-shaped dielectric substrate having the same thickness as the height is cut in parallel to form a dielectric 301. Next, in step (2), the conductor layer 302 is formed by covering the surface of the dielectric material 301 cut with a material having good conductivity, and the waveguide 201 is formed. Then, in step (3), a plurality of waveguides 201 are arranged and fixed using a conductive adhesive to form a waveguide array structure. Thereafter, in step (4), the surface of the waveguide array is polished to flatten the surface. Finally, in step (5), the radiation slot 104 and the coupling slot 202 are formed on the polished surface by using photolithography. Through the above steps, the slot array 101 is manufactured.

Here, after the step (3), an intermediate step for forming a thick and well-conductive coating film is inserted, or a sufficiently thick conductor layer 302 is formed in the step (2). It is important to form a sufficiently thick conductor layer, for example, by covering the whole with a highly conductive adhesive used in (3), in configuring the slot array 101 with low loss.

The manufacturing process of the slot array 101 shown in FIG. 4 is excellent in the following points.

For example, since the cross-sectional size of a waveguide used in the 78 GHz band is as small as about 1 mm × 2 mm, in a slot array antenna that requires highly accurate phase control of an electromagnetic field propagating in the waveguide, It is extremely difficult to realize sufficient processing accuracy using a conventional hollow pipe structure waveguide and machining. However, in the manufacturing process of the waveguide in the present invention, since the manufacturing method of the dielectric material 301 is only parallel plate cutting, the processing accuracy is very high, and the reproducibility of the characteristics of each waveguide 201 is good and Rich in mass production. Therefore, by using the slot array configuration and the manufacturing process of the present invention, a high-performance slot array can be mass-produced.

Further, since the amplitude and phase accuracy of the radiated electromagnetic field from the radiating slot which determines the antenna characteristics such as the radiation directivity of the antenna are determined by the relative position between the waveguide and the radiating slot, the conventional machining By using a photolithography technique having much higher drawing accuracy than that of the slot array, the characteristics of the slot array of the present invention are very high in reproducibility and high in mass productivity.

Although it has been described that the dielectric 301 is formed by cutting the dielectric parallel plate in the step (1), the dielectric may be formed by filling a powdery ceramic into a rectangular mold and heating under pressure. Then, a powdery ceramic material is mixed into a binder such as a resin that can be decomposed at a high temperature, and a structure having the same shape as the dielectric material 301 is formed before firing.
Needless to say, it can be produced by going through a heating step.

The structure of the slot array 101 and the manufacturing process thereof have been described above. Next, the detailed structure of the power supply circuit 102, which is a component of the high-frequency circuit integrated slot array antenna of the present invention, will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 5 is a schematic configuration diagram showing the configuration of the power supply circuit 102. In FIG. 5, reference numeral 501 denotes an opening, which is formed by removing substantially the entire conductive layer 302 on the upper surface of the waveguide 201. Reference numeral 502 denotes a power supply slot, which efficiently supplies power from the high-frequency circuit 103 to the power supply circuit 1.
02.

The power supply circuit 102 according to the present invention is manufactured by the same manufacturing process as that of the slot array 101 described with reference to FIG. In other words, a dielectric square material is made by cutting a dielectric substrate, and a large number of waveguides manufactured by covering the surface with a conductive film are arranged in parallel, and they are bonded with a good adhesive. Create a waveguide array. Then, the power supply circuit 102 is formed by patterning the coupling slot 502 and the opening 501 on the surface of the waveguide array using photolithography technology. afterwards,
The power supply circuit 102 and the above-described slot array 101 are connected with a good adhesive material or the like, and the opening 501 is covered with a connecting slot 202 on the lower surface of the slot array 101 to form a waveguide.

Next, the operation of the power supply circuit 102 will be described. A signal is transmitted through the waveguide 201 through the feeding slot 502.
The electromagnetic field in the waveguide 201 is transmitted to all the waveguides 201 constituting the slot array 101 because the coupling slot 202 is provided on the upper surface of the waveguide 201. The transmitted electromagnetic field is finally
Radiated from 4 toward the outside world.

Here, the power supply circuit 102 is 3 in FIG.
Although an example composed of two dielectric materials has been described, it is needless to say that the configuration can be made using a waveguide array similar to the slot array 101 shown in FIG. In FIG. 4, a waveguide array is formed in the same process, material, and dimensions as those of the slot array 101 until the process (4).
Feeding circuit 1 by changing to patterning for 2
02 is created. In this case, the opening 501 is patterned in one waveguide constituting the waveguide array.

Further, although the power supply circuit 102 shown in FIG. 5 has a single-layer structure, it is needless to say that a more complicated power supply circuit can be configured by using a multilayer structure. that's all,
The feed circuit of the slot array antenna integrated with a high-frequency circuit according to the present invention has been described. Next, the high-frequency circuit 10 of the present invention
3 will be described.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing the layer structure of the high-frequency circuit 103 which is a component of the high-frequency circuit-integrated slot array antenna of the present invention. In FIG.
Is MMIC (Millimeter Monolith)
ic IC), 602 is a multilayer wiring, 603 is a via hole, and 604 is a bump. The high-frequency circuit 103 is formed by providing the multilayer wiring structure 602 on the surface of the power supply circuit 102 where the power supply slot 502 is formed. Also, the MMI on the circuit of the multilayer wiring structure 602 is
For mounting of circuit components such as C, so-called flip-chip mounting performed via bumps 604 is used. Signal transmission from the high-frequency circuit 103 to the power supply circuit 102 is realized by electromagnetically coupling the line of the high-frequency circuit 103 and the waveguide 201 via the power supply slot 502.

The use of flip-chip mounting or a multilayer wiring structure in the configuration of the high-frequency circuit 103 has the following advantages. When realizing a highly efficient circuit in a high frequency band, problems that arise in the transmission line and the connection loss that occur when connecting a circuit to a circuit component or a circuit are problems. Therefore, it is necessary to realize a low-loss line structure and to shorten the line length as much as possible. In the present invention, by using a multilayer wiring structure, the transmission line is covered with a ground conductor to realize a line structure with less radiation loss, and the entire circuit is made compact to shorten the line length. In mounting components such as MMICs, flip-chip mounting with lower connection loss in a higher frequency band than that of ordinary wire bonding is used to achieve low loss.

The high-frequency circuit 103 and the power supply circuit 102 are coupled, for example, after the slot array 101 and the power supply circuit 102 are joined, a dielectric thin film is formed by applying and firing a liquid dielectric material, and a dielectric thin film is formed thereon. Direct power supply circuit 1 using the process of forming line wiring with metal foil film a plurality of times
02, a multilayer wiring circuit is formed on the back surface. And finally MM
Circuit components such as ICs are flip-chip mounted. In this case, if not only high frequency circuits but also IF (intermediate frequency) circuits, digital circuits, and power supply circuits can be integrated, compactness of the entire communication device using the antenna of the present invention can be one of the features of the present invention. it can.

The configuration of the high-frequency circuit 103 according to the present invention has been described above. Although the configuration example of the high-frequency circuit 103 having the multilayer wiring structure has been described with reference to FIG. 6, it goes without saying that a circuit configuration using a single-layer dielectric substrate is possible. Needless to say, a configuration in which the multilayer wiring is once formed on the ceramic substrate and then a high-frequency circuit is bonded to the power supply circuit 102 integrated with the slot array 101 by using an adhesive having good conductivity is possible. No.

The structure of the high frequency circuit integrated slot array antenna of the present invention has been described above. In the present invention, a low-loss dielectric parallel plate substrate is cut in parallel to form a dielectric base material having a rectangular cross section, and a good conductor thin film is deposited on its surface to have the same function as a waveguide. A transmission line is formed, and a plurality of the transmission lines are joined in parallel to manufacture a planar waveguide array. The slot array and the feed circuit are formed by forming a coupling slot between the radiation slot and the feed circuit at an appropriate position on the waveguide array by photolithography technology, and the feed circuit is formed at an appropriate position by photolithography technology. It is manufactured by laminating one or more substrates each having a coupling slot formed therein. Further, a high-frequency circuit having a multilayer wiring structure is provided on the back surface of the power supply circuit, and a signal processed by the high-frequency circuit is directly transmitted to the power supply circuit through a coupling slot formed on the power supply circuit.

By using the above configuration and manufacturing method,
Dramatic improvement in waveguide processing accuracy and slot position accuracy, and integration of the antenna and high-frequency circuit can be realized, resulting in a small, lightweight, and high-performance slot array antenna even in the millimeter wave band. Can be

(Embodiment 2) FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing the operation of a collision prevention radar using a high-frequency circuit-integrated slot array antenna according to the present invention. In FIG.
701 is a slot array antenna of the present invention, 702 is an automobile, and 703 is a millimeter wave.

The operation of the collision prevention radar of the present invention will be described below.

The slot antenna 701 of the present invention radiates a millimeter wave 702 forward, sideward, and rearward of the vehicle, detects the position and speed of an obstacle that may cause a collision, warns the driver, and alerts the driver. Avoidance is performed by automatic control. Further, the slot array antenna 701 of the present invention mounted on a vehicle can communicate with another vehicle or an antenna fixed on a road through a millimeter wave, and has a narrow communication area unique to the millimeter wave. It is possible to construct a communication network using high-speed transmission.

(Embodiment 3) FIG. 8 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a configuration of a high-speed wireless LAN using the slot array antenna of the present invention. In FIG. 8, reference numeral 801 denotes a home appliance / audio / video device, 802 denotes a computer, 803 denotes an OA device, and 805 denotes a slot array antenna of the present invention, all of which are installed in a room 806. A base station 807 is installed outdoors.

Although the home appliance / audio / video equipment 801, the computer 802 and the OA equipment 803 can directly communicate with each other, the mutual communication lines can also be established through the slot array antenna 805 of the present invention installed in the room 806. Is formed. In addition, all the equipment groups in the room 806 are connected to the base station 807 located outdoors and the high-speed communication line via the slot array antenna 805 of the present invention, so that high-speed information collection and transmission with the outside can be performed. .

[0055]

Next, specific examples of the present invention will be described.

(Embodiment 1) A first embodiment of a slot array antenna integrated with a high-frequency circuit according to the present invention will be described below. In the first embodiment, the slot array 101 described in FIG. 2 and the power supply circuit described in FIG. 5 are all made of a quartz substrate.

The creation method will be described below by following the process described in FIG. First, a quartz substrate having a thickness of 650 μm is cut in parallel with a width of 1300 μm. A copper thin film is formed on the surface of the cut quartz rod by vacuum evaporation, and a copper thick film of 1 μm or more is electroplated using the copper thin film as an electrode to form a waveguide with the quartz rod as an axis. Next, the waveguides are arranged in parallel and the short sides are joined by low-temperature solder. After that, the surface is polished and flattened. Finally, apply a photosensitive resist and optically transfer the radiation slot, coupling slot, or power supply slot or opening for the power supply circuit, and use that as a transfer mask to penetrate the copper thick film on the surface to the quartz rod surface. The slot array 101 and the power supply circuit 102 are formed by etching.

After the power supply circuit 102 and the slot array 101 are joined by low-temperature solder or the like,
Apply BCB (Benzocyclobuten),
Conducting holes such as VIA holes
A μm copper thin film is deposited and the circuit pattern is etched.
This process is repeated a plurality of times to form a high-frequency circuit having a multilayer wiring structure on the surface of the power supply circuit 102. And finally, flip chip mounting of MMIC and other circuit components,
When the operation of the entire high-frequency circuit is confirmed, the IF circuit, digital circuit, and power supply circuit manufactured on another substrate are mounted, and the high-frequency circuit-integrated slot antenna according to the first embodiment is completed.

In the present embodiment, a quartz substrate was used as the dielectric material.
This is because the dielectric loss, which causes transmission loss, is as low as about 0.0004, which is relatively low at about 8.

Now, in a conventional waveguide, that is, a WR-10 waveguide in the United States standard, the propagation wavelength of the electromagnetic field in the tube is 5.9 mm at 78 GHz. As described with reference to FIG. 3, adjacent radiation slots are arranged at intervals of １ ／ of the propagation wavelength, but the geometric arrangement of the radiation slots is a one-wavelength repeating structure in which two radiation slots are paired. Become. Thus, when a slot antenna is formed using a conventional waveguide, the slot repetition structure becomes 5.
Since the wavelength is 9 mm, which exceeds the wavelength of 3.85 mm in free space, radiation of radio waves appears in unnecessary directions. For example, when the maximum electromagnetic field radiation direction of the antenna coincides with the normal direction of the slot array, a strong direction of electromagnetic field radiation appears in an angle direction of ± 41 ° from the normal line when a conventional waveguide is used. However, in this embodiment, since the quartz substrate is used, the propagation wavelength in the tube is 3.0 mm, and the above-described electromagnetic field radiation cannot be generated within an angle range of ± 90 ° from the normal direction.

Further, when slot processing is performed on a conventional waveguide, since the wall thickness of the pipe is large, the hole processing is relatively deep compared to the slot opening width. In this case, the antenna design becomes very difficult because the slot cannot be regarded as a simple opening. However, in this embodiment, the slot hole depth is equal to the copper thick film, and the copper film thickness can be reduced to a skin depth of about 0.5 μm at 78 GHz, so that the above problem is solved.

Further, the higher the frequency band, the more difficult it is to manufacture a feeder circuit or a waveguide array structure using waveguide wiring using a conventional waveguide, and it becomes more difficult to realize mass production and low cost. It is expected that. However, in this embodiment, mass production and reproducibility can be expected because processes that have been conventionally used for cutting and joining quartz parallel plates and for manufacturing semiconductors are used.

Here, the working accuracy in this embodiment will be described last. For example, the parallelism of a 4-inch diameter quartz substrate is ± 15 μm or less, and the cutting accuracy of the substrate is ± 10 μm.
Since it is not more than μm, a waveguide processing accuracy of ± 15 μm can be realized. Further, the drawing accuracy of the slot can be realized at ± 1 μm or less over the entire surface. This processing accuracy eliminates unclearness of the radiation directivity characteristics of the slot array antenna, and achieves higher reproducibility.

[0064]

As described above, according to the present invention, a sufficient processing accuracy can be realized even in a millimeter wave band in the production of a waveguide-fed slot array antenna, and mass production is enabled. Further, since the high-frequency circuit and the slot array antenna are integrated, an advantageous effect that the entire device including the antenna can be made compact and lightweight can be obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the structure of a high-frequency circuit integrated slot array antenna of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a detailed structure of the slot array of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a detailed structure of the waveguide of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a process chart showing a manufacturing process of the slot array in the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the power supply circuit of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing a layer structure of the high-frequency circuit of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating the operation of a collision prevention radar using the high-frequency circuit-integrated slot array antenna of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating an operation of a high-speed wireless LAN using the slot array antenna of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is an exploded perspective view showing the structure of a conventional slot array antenna.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 Slot array 102 Feeding circuit 103 High frequency circuit 104 Radiation slot 105 Radio wave

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Kazuaki Takahashi 3-10-1 Higashi-Mita, Tama-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa F-term in Matsushita Giken Co., Ltd. 5J014 DA06 5J021 AA05 AA05 AA11 AB05 CA03 DB01 EA02 HA04 HA10 5J045 AB05 DA04 EA06 HA03 JA01 LA01 MA04 NA07

Claims (13)

[Claims] 1. A slot comprising a two-dimensional slot array, a power supply circuit, and a signal processing circuit, wherein a line forming the slot array and the power supply circuit is a waveguide group, and the two-dimensional slot array, the power supply circuit, and the signal processing. A slot array antenna characterized by being integrated in the order of circuits. 2. The power transmission from the signal processing circuit to the power supply circuit is realized by electromagnetic field coupling between the two circuits via a slot formed in a ground plane separating the two circuits. The slot array antenna according to claim 1. 3. The slot array antenna according to claim 1, wherein the signal processing circuit includes a high frequency circuit, an intermediate frequency circuit, a digital circuit, and a power supply circuit. 4. The slot array antenna according to claim 1, wherein the signal processing circuit is a high-frequency circuit having a multilayer wiring structure, and the circuit components are mounted on the high-frequency circuit by flip-chip mounting. 5. A high-frequency circuit is a multilayer wiring formed by alternately stacking a dielectric thin film formed by applying and firing benzocyclobutane and a copper vapor-deposited thin film on which a circuit pattern is transferred by a photolithography technique. 5. The slot array antenna according to claim 4, wherein each of the circuit layers is electrically connected by a through hole, and the circuit components are flip-chip mounted on the circuit layer on the surface of the multilayer wiring. . 6. A one-dimensional base material is formed by cutting a parallel dielectric substrate in parallel, and the surface of the one-dimensional base material is covered with a material having good conductivity so that the same function as a waveguide is obtained. A method for manufacturing a waveguide, comprising: forming a transmission line having: 7. A waveguide array is formed by joining a plurality of waveguides in parallel using a material having good conductivity, and thereafter, a circuit shape is formed on the surface of the waveguide array using a photolithography technique. A circuit forming method. 8. A power supply circuit formed by laminating a plurality of waveguide wiring circuits formed by the waveguide wiring circuit manufacturing method according to claim 7. 9. A waveguide forming a two-dimensional slot array and a feed circuit is produced by the waveguide manufacturing method according to claim 6, and the two-dimensional slot array and the feed circuit are guided by the waveguide according to claim 7. 2. The slot array antenna according to claim 1, wherein the slot array antenna is formed by a tube circuit manufacturing method. 10. The slot array antenna according to claim 9, wherein the dielectric is a quartz substrate. 11. By encapsulating a dielectric material having a low dielectric loss in a waveguide, the propagation wavelength of an electromagnetic field propagating in the waveguide can be made shorter than the propagation wavelength of the electromagnetic field in air, which is unnecessary. A slot array antenna characterized by suppression of the radiation directivity. 12. An obstacle monitoring radar, wherein the slot array antenna according to claim 1 is used as a transmitting, receiving, or transmitting / receiving antenna. 13. A high-speed wireless transmission apparatus using the slot array antenna according to claim 1 as a transmitting, receiving, or transmitting / receiving antenna.