Enabling Technologies for High Performance Millimetre and Sub-millimetre Wave Radar

The successful realisation of high performance millimetre and sub-millimetre wave radars requires key enabling technologies, many of which are not yet commercially available. This paper illustrates some of the key enabling technologies developed to address radar system requirements including chirp generation, feedhorns, duplexing and non-mechanical beam steering. The type of high performance radar system which can be achieved using these technologies is illustrated with the examples of the ‘T-220’ 94 GHz FMCW Doppler radar used for high sensitivity target and clutter phenomenology studies and the ‘CONSORTIS’ 340 GHz 3D imaging radar developed for concealed object detection as required for next generation aviation security screening.