Terahertz Antenna Technology for Space Applications (eBook)

This book explores the terahertz antenna technology towards implementation of compact, consistent and cheap terahertz sources, as well as the high sensitivity terahertz detectors. The terahertz EM band provides a transition between the electronic and the photonic regions thus adopting important characteristics from these regimes. These characteristics, along with the progress in semiconductor technology, have enabled researchers to exploit hitherto unexplored domains including satellite communication, bio-medical imaging, and security systems. The advances in new materials and nanostructures such as graphene will be helpful in miniaturization of antenna technology while simultaneously maintaining the desired output levels. Terahertz antenna characterization of bandwidth, impedance, polarization, etc. has not yet been methodically structured and it continues to be a major research challenge. This book addresses these issues besides including the advances of terahertz technology in space applications worldwide, along with possibilities of using this technology in deep space networks.

Dr. Balamati Choudhury is currently working as a Scientist at Centre for Electromagnetics of CSIR-National Aerospace Laboratories, Bangalore, India since April 2008. She obtained her M.Tech. (ECE) degree in 2006 and Ph.D. (Engg.) degree in Microwave Engineering from Biju Patnaik University of Technology (BPUT), Rourkela, Orissa, India in 2013. During the period of 2006-2008, she was a Senior Lecturer in Department of Electronics and Communication at NIST, Orissa India. Her active areas of research interests are in the domain of soft computing techniques in electromagnetics, computational electromagnetics for aerospace applications and metamaterial design applications. She was also the recipient of the CSIR-NAL Young Scientist Award for the year 2013-2014 for her contribution in the area of Computational Electromagnetics for Aerospace Applications. She has authored or co-authored over 100 scientific research papers and technical reports including a book and three book chapters. Dr. Balamati is also an Assistant Professor of AcSIR, New Delhi.

Mr. Aniruddha Ramakrishna Sonde, interned as a visiting student at the Centre for Electromagnetics, CSIR-National Aerospace Laboratories (CSIR-NAL), and worked on terahertz communication, deep space networks, and terahertz antennas.

Dr. Rakesh Mohan Jha was Chief Scientist & Head, Centre for Electromagnetics, CSIR-National Aero space Laboratories, Bangalore. Dr. Jha obtained a dual degree in BE (Hons.) EEE and MSc (Hons.) Physics from BITS, Pilani (Raj.) India, in 1982. He obtained his Ph.D. (Engg.) degree from Department of Aerospace Engineering of Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore in 1989, in the area of computational electromagnetics for aerospace applications. Dr. Jha was a SERC (UK) Visiting Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at University of Oxford, Department of Engineering Science in 1991. He worked as an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow at the Institute for High-Frequency Techniques and Electronics of the University of Karlsruhe, Germany (1992-1993, 1997). He was awarded the Sir C.V. Raman Award for Aerospace Engineering for the Year 1999. Dr. Jha was elected Fellow of INAE in 2010, for his contributions to the EM Applications to Aerospace Engineering. He was also the Fellow of IETE and Distinguished Fellow of ICCES. Dr. Jha has authored or co-authored several books, and more than five hundred scientific research papers and technical reports. He passed away during the production of this book of a cardiac arrest.

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This book explores the terahertz antenna technology towards implementation of compact, consistent and cheap terahertz sources, as well as the high sensitivity terahertz detectors. The terahertz EM band provides a transition between the electronic and the photonic regions thus adopting important characteristics from these regimes. These characteristics, along with the progress in semiconductor technology, have enabled researchers to exploit hitherto unexplored domains including satellite communication, bio-medical imaging, and security systems. The advances in new materials and nanostructures such as graphene will be helpful in miniaturization of antenna technology while simultaneously maintaining the desired output levels. Terahertz antenna characterization of bandwidth, impedance, polarization, etc. has not yet been methodically structured and it continues to be a major research challenge. This book addresses these issues besides including the advances of terahertz technology in space applications worldwide, along with possibilities of using this technology in deep space networks.