Korolyov Sergey, Goryunov Aleksandr, Illarionov Ivan, Parshin Vladimir, Zemlyanukha Petr
Institute for Physics of Microstructures of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 603950 Nizhny Novgorod, Russia.
Institute of Radio Electronics and Information Technologies, Nizhny Novgorod State Technical University, 603950 Nizhny Novgorod, Russia.
Sensors (Basel). 2022 Sep 20;22(19):7132. doi: 10.3390/s22197132.
A new approach to millimeter-wave imaging was suggested and experimentally studied. This approach can be considered as the evolution of the well-established focal-plane array (FPA) millimeter-wave imaging. The significant difference is the use of a direct-conversion array receiver, instead of the direct-detection array receiver, along with the frequency-modulated continuous-wave (FMCW) radar technique. The sensitivity of the direct-conversion receiver is several orders higher than the sensitivity of the direct-detection one, which allows us to increase the maximum imaging range by more than one order of magnitude. The additional advantage of the direct-conversion technique is the opportunity to obtain information about the range to an object. The realization of the direct-conversion FPA imaging system was made possible due to original sensitive simple-designed receiving elements based on low-barrier Mott diodes. The suggested imaging method's main characteristics, which include the achievable angular and range resolution and the achievable maximum imaging range, were studied. A maximum range of up to 100 m was experimentally determined. A 94 GHz 8 × 8 imaging system was developed for demonstration purposes and studied in detail. The suggested technique is assumed to be useful for creating a long-range millimeter-wave camera, in particular, for robotic systems that operate in poor environmental conditions.
提出了一种毫米波成像的新方法并进行了实验研究。这种方法可被视为成熟的焦平面阵列（FPA）毫米波成像的演进。显著的区别在于使用了直接变频阵列接收器，而非直接检测阵列接收器，同时结合了调频连续波（FMCW）雷达技术。直接变频接收器的灵敏度比直接检测接收器的灵敏度高几个数量级，这使我们能够将最大成像范围提高一个多数量级以上。直接变频技术的另一个优点是有机会获取到目标物体的距离信息。基于低势垒莫特二极管的原始灵敏且设计简单的接收元件使得直接变频FPA成像系统得以实现。研究了所建议成像方法的主要特性，包括可实现的角度和距离分辨率以及可实现的最大成像范围。通过实验确定最大范围可达100米。为演示目的开发了一个94GHz 8×8成像系统并进行了详细研究。所建议的技术被认为对于制造远程毫米波相机是有用的，特别是对于在恶劣环境条件下运行的机器人系统。
