Dielectric structure useful for shaping electromagnetic phase wavefronts
A dielectric structure useful for shaping electromagnetic, EM, phase wavefronts, includes: a body having a monolithic construct; the body having a height dimension, H, from a proximal end to a distal end equal to or less than 60% of an overall outside dimension, D, of the body at the distal end, the distal end being disposed a distance away from the proximal end along a z-axis of an orthogonal x-y-z coordinate system, the distal end forming an electromagnetic aperture of the structure; the body having a sidewall between the proximal end and the distal end that forms and defines an interior cavity that is open at the proximal end, and closed at the distal end, the sidewall having a plurality of structural disruptions around an enclosing boundary of the interior cavity, the plurality of structural disruptions disposed and configured to reduce electromagnetic reflections.
1 . A dielectric structure useful for shaping electromagnetic, EM, phase wavefronts, the structure comprising:
a body having a monolithic construct;
the body having a low profile, in that a height dimension, H, from a proximal end to a distal end is equal to or less than 60% of an overall outside dimension, D, of the body at the distal end, the distal end being disposed a distance away from the proximal end along a z-axis of an orthogonal x-y-z coordinate system, the distal end forming an electromagnetic aperture of the structure, the aperture having an effective dielectric, Dk, constant value that is greater at a center of the aperture than at a perimeter of the aperture;
the body having a sidewall between the proximal end and the distal end that forms and defines an interior cavity that is open at the proximal end, and closed at the distal end, the sidewall comprising a plurality of structural disruptions around an enclosing boundary of the interior cavity, the plurality of structural disruptions disposed and configured to reduce electromagnetic reflections.
2 . The structure of claim 1 , wherein:
the body has an x-z cross section that forms a curved profile at the distal end that is thicker in a center of the body than at a perimeter of the body.
3 . The structure of claim 1 , wherein:
the body has an y-z cross section that forms a curved profile at the distal end that is thicker in the center of the body than at the perimeter of the body.
4 . The structure of claim 1 , wherein:
the effective Dk constant is defined, at a given location within the aperture, as the average dielectric constant over a cubic volume of the aperture having a volume of λ o 3 , where λ o is the free space wavelength of electromagnetic radiation at a defined operating frequency of the structure.
5 . The structure of claim 1 , wherein:
the sidewall has an effective dielectric, Dk, constant value that is less than an effective Dk constant at the center of the aperture;
the sidewall has an effective dielectric, Dk, constant value that is greater than an effective Dk constant at the perimeter of the aperture, the sidewall being disposed radially outboard of the perimeter of the aperture.
6 . The structure of claim 1 , wherein:
at least one of an exterior surface and an interior surface of the sidewall comprises an EM material attached thereto in a manner to reduce electromagnetic reflections and side lobe levels.
7 . The structure of claim 1 , wherein:
the body further comprises a monolithically formed support feature that extends radially outboard of the aperture at the proximal end, the support feature configured to permit attachment of the structure to a substrate.
8 . The structure of claim 7 , wherein:
the substrate comprises a printed circuit board;
the printed circuit board comprises a source of EM radiation disposed and configured to direct the EM radiation toward the aperture.
9 . The structure of claim 7 , wherein:
the substrate comprises a housing of a system.
10 . The structure of claim 9 , wherein:
the housing comprises support and attachment features configured and disposed to support and attach to the support feature of the body.
11 . The structure of claim 9 , wherein:
the system comprises the housing and further comprises a printed circuit board comprising a source of electromagnetic radiation configured to be directed toward the aperture.
12 . The structure of claim 11 , wherein:
the system further comprises a heat sink disposed in thermal conductivity with and between the printed circuit board and the housing.
13 . The structure of claim 12 , wherein:
the heat sink and the printed circuit board are disposed within the gap between the substrate and the body.
14 . The structure of claim 7 , wherein:
the substrate comprises a waveguide.
15 . The structure of claim 7 , wherein
the support feature is configured and disposed to position the body off of the substrate to form a gap therebetween.
16 . The structure of claim 15 , wherein:
the body, the substrate, or both the body and the substrate, includes a standoff configured and disposed to form the gap between the substrate and the body.
17 . The structure of claim 1 , wherein:
the body is formed from of an all-dielectric material that has a dielectric constant equal to or greater than 2 and equal to or less than 20.
18 . The structure of claim 1 , wherein:
the plurality of structural disruptions in the sidewall are uniformly distributed around the enclosing boundary of the interior cavity.
19 . The structure of claim 1 , wherein:
an outer surface of the aperture comprises one or more of a structural disruption formed around a central z-axis of the body.
20 . The structure of claim 19 , wherein:
the one or more of a structural disruption is an indented ring formed in the outer surface of the aperture.
21 . The structure of claim 1 , wherein:
the aperture has a circular outer perimeter as observed in a top-down plan view of the structure.
22 . The structure of claim 1 , wherein:
the body is operational to convert a spherical phase electromagnetic wavefront to a planar phase electromagnetic wavefront.
23 . The structure of claim 1 , wherein:
the plurality of structural disruptions in the sidewall are separated from one another in that adjacent ones of the plurality of structural disruptions do not overlap or intersect each other.
24 . The structure of claim 1 , wherein:
each one of the plurality of structural disruptions in the sidewall is an indentation in the sidewall, and has a width W that curvingly transitions from a width W 1 at the distal end of the body to a tangent of a radius R 2 at the proximal end of the body.
25 . The structure of claim 1 , wherein:
H is equal to or less than 40% of D.
26 . The structure of claim 1 , wherein:
the plurality of structural disruptions in the sidewall blend with one another in that adjacent ones of the plurality of structural disruptions overlap or intersect each other.
27 . The structure of claim 1 , wherein:
each one of the plurality of structural disruptions in the sidewall is an indentation in the sidewall, and has a first width W 1 at the distal end of the body, and a second width W 2 at the proximal end of the body; and
W 2 is greater than W 1 .
28 . The structure of claim 1 , wherein:
the body is formed from of an all-dielectric material that has a dielectric constant equal to or greater than 2 and equal to or less than 5.
29 . The structure of claim 1 , wherein:
H is equal to or less than 50% of D.
30 . The structure of claim 1 , wherein:
the structure forms a lens and not a dielectric resonator antenna, wherein the sidewall of the lens having the plurality of structural disruptions is configured to bend an E-field, when present, that originates from within the lens and radiates out of the lens, such that the E-field results in higher gain bore site radiation with reduced side lobe level radiation as compared to the structure absent the plurality of structural disruptions.