Echelle crossed grating millimeter wave beam scanner

We present a two-dimensional, active, millimeter-wave, electronic beam scanner, with Doppler capabilities for stand-off imaging. The two-dimensional scan is achieved by mapping the millimeter wave spectrum to space using a pair of crossed gratings. The active transceiver and heterodyne quadrature detection allow the measurement of the relative phase between two consecutive measurements and the synthesis of the scene's Doppler signature. The frame rate of the imager is currently limited by the sweep rate of the vector network analyzer which is used to drive the millimeter wave extenders. All of the beam steering components are passive and can be designed to operate at any wavelength. The system design, characterization and measurements are presented and further uses and improvements are suggested.