Analysis and Design of Lens Antenna Systems for Applications at Millimeter and Sub-millimeter Wavelengths

In recent decades, dielectric lens antennas have been more and more adopted and developed for sensing and imaging applications at sub-millimeter (sub-mm) wavelengths because they can achieve high gain while keeping their physical size and weight acceptable at these wavelengths. More recently, as low-loss and low-cost lens materials have become available and the lens fabrication is becoming easier and more accurate, lens antennas are attracting more interests for variety of applications at millimeter (mm) wavelengths such as high-data-rate wireless communication and automotive radars. However, the analysis and design of lens antennas at mm and sub-mm wavelengths present different challenges. In this thesis, we propose to use a field correlation technique to analyze lens antennas in reception and then optimize their aperture efficiency for different scenarios. Based on this optimization methodology, three examples of lens antenna systems are described at 28 GHz, 180 GHz, and beyond 200 GHz for the applications of 5G communication, wide field-of-view security imaging, and future mm-resolution THz imaging, respectively. The proposed methodology and design provide possible solutions for the potential challenges and can be used as guidelines for designing lens antennas at mm and sub-mm wavelengths.....