JPH0641375Y2 - Antenna device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial field of application] The present invention relates to an antenna device for controlling the radiation characteristics of an antenna by light.

[Conventional technology]

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of an antenna device in which a conventional light control diode shown in, for example, IEEE, 1986 APS., Pp.361-364 is applied to a power feeding circuit. In the figure, (1) is a dielectric substrate, (2) is a ground conductor, (3) is a microstrip antenna, and (4) is a feed line composed of a microstrip line. (5) is a phase shifter from a branch line hybrid (6), a 1/4 wavelength microstrip line (7), a PIN diode (8), an LED (9) and a power cable (10) for supplying power to the LED. Become. Here, the feeding line (4) and the phase shifter (5) form a feeding circuit.

Next, the operation will be described. The radio wave propagating through the feed line (4) enters the phase shifter (5) and is then fed to the microstrip antenna (3). In the phase shifter (5)
The output phase of the branch line hybrid (6) is changed by changing the impedance of the PIN diode (8) and the reflection phase depending on whether the PIN diode (8) is illuminated by the LED (9) or not. ing. led
Whether or not (9) is illuminated is achieved by turning on and off the power applied to the LED (9) through the power cable (10).

[Problems to be solved by the device]

Since the conventional antenna device is configured as described above, the power cable for supplying power to the LED is arranged above the antenna. When the number of elements of the antenna increases, there is a problem that the power radiation cable blocks the radiation waves from the antenna, or the radiation waves are coupled to deteriorate the radiation characteristics of the antenna.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to obtain an antenna device capable of controlling a beam by light without the radiation wave from the antenna being affected by the cable and the radiation characteristic being deteriorated. To aim.

[Means for Solving the Problems]

In order to achieve the above object, an antenna device according to the present invention is an antenna device in which a microstrip antenna and a feeding circuit connected to the antenna are integrally configured on a semiconductor substrate having a ground conductor on one surface. The feeding circuit is configured by a feeding line and a phase shifter, and a diode whose impedance is changed by light is formed on the semiconductor substrate as a variable impedance element of the phase shifter,
A thin film optical waveguide is formed on the semiconductor substrate, and one end of the thin film optical waveguide is arranged in the vicinity of the junction of the diode so that light propagating through the optical waveguide irradiates the junction of the diode. .

[Action]

In the antenna device of the present invention configured as described above,
By radiating the light that illuminates the diode, which is a variable impedance element by the light that constitutes the phase shifter, from the light incident end of the thin film optical waveguide integrally formed on the surface of the semiconductor substrate to the diode irradiation end, the radiated radio wave from the antenna The beam can be controlled by light without being affected by the cable and degrading the radiation characteristics.

[Example of device]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In FIGS. 1 and 2, (12) is a semiconductor substrate such as silicon or gallium arsenide, and (13) is a diode such as PIN formed on the semiconductor substrate (12) whose impedance characteristic changes depending on the intensity of light. (11) is a thin film optical waveguide such as glass made by sputtering or a polymer thin film waveguide made by coating. The thin film optical waveguide (11) receives light from one end, and the other end is arranged in the vicinity of the PIN junction part of the diode (13). FIG. 2 (a) is a partially enlarged view of FIG. 1 and shows AA ′ near the PIN junction.
A sectional view is shown in FIG.

Incidentally, (2) to (7) are the same as those of the conventional device shown in FIG.

1 and 2, when light enters from one end of the thin film optical waveguide (11), light from the other end of the thin film optical waveguide (11) located on the diode (13) side illuminates the diode (13). . When the diode (13) is irradiated with light, the junction capacitance increases and the impedance becomes low. On the contrary, when the light irradiation is cut off, the junction capacitance becomes small and the impedance becomes high.
In this way, the reflection phase of the electric wave incident on the diode (13) can be changed by intermittently irradiating the light, and the branch line type hybrid (6) and the 1/4 wavelength microstrip line (7) together with the phase shifter (5 ) Can be configured. The feeding circuit is composed of the phase shifter (5) and the feeding line (4).

In the above embodiment, the case where the thin film optical waveguide (11) is formed on the surface of the semiconductor substrate (12) has been described.
The waveguide may be formed directly on the semiconductor substrate (12) by ion implantation or the like.

[Effect of device]

As described above, according to the present invention, the diode formed on the semiconductor substrate whose impedance changes by light irradiation is irradiated with light through the thin film optical waveguide formed on the semiconductor substrate, and the radio waves emitted from the antenna are influenced by the cable. Accordingly, it is possible to obtain an antenna device capable of controlling the beam by light without degrading the radiation characteristic.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 is a perspective view of an antenna device showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 (a) is a partially enlarged view of FIG. 1, and FIG. 2 (b).
2A is a sectional view taken along the line AA 'in FIG. 2A, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a conventional antenna device. (2) is a ground conductor, (3) is a microstrip antenna, (4) is a feed line, (5) is a phase shifter, (6) is a branch line hybrid, and (7) is a 1/4 wavelength microstrip line. , (11) is a thin film optical waveguide, (12) is a semiconductor substrate, and (13) is a diode. The same reference numerals in the drawings indicate the same or corresponding parts.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. An antenna device in which a microstrip antenna and a feeding circuit connected to the antenna are integrally formed on a semiconductor substrate having a ground conductor on one surface, and the feeding circuit includes a feeding line and a phase shifter. And forming a diode whose impedance is changed by light as a variable impedance element of the phase shifter on the semiconductor substrate,
A thin film optical waveguide is formed on the semiconductor substrate, and one end of the thin film optical waveguide is arranged in the vicinity of the junction of the diode so that light propagating through the thin film optical waveguide irradiates the junction of the diode. Antenna device.