January 2018 News for the Microwave and Wireless Engineer

MESSAGE FROM 2018 PRESIDENT TOM BRAZIL
“An Amazing Time for Microwaves”

The remarkable communications advances we’ll see during the coming year rely on electromagnetic energy in the RV, microwave, mm-wave, and terahertz bands. The coming of 5G will mean mm-waves everywhere, and we may even cut some power cables to harness wireless power transfer. This year’s IMS in Philadelphia will feature state-of-the-art research and the largest industrial exposition in the field. It’s going to be an amazing year.

EXPLORATION A 249 mW, 177-205 GHz Synthesizer for Planetary Probes

Development of a synthesizer to support planetary science instrumentation using a CMOS system-on-chip to deliver at least 10 microwatts across the 177–205 GHz lock range while consuming 249 mW of dc power.

THZ Detecting Pesticides

A new method combining terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) with metamaterials detects concentrations of the pesticide carbendazim as low as 5 mg/L, sensitivity about 4 orders of magnitude better than squash THz-TDS.

CALL FOR PAPERS Submit Wireless Power Transfer Papers by 18 Feb.

Submit papers by 18 February for the Power Transfer Conference (WPTC2018), running 3-7 June in Montreal with the Workshop on Emerging Technologies: Wireless Power (WoW), and the Wireless Power Congress (WPC).

ANTENNA Photoconductive THz Plasmonic Nanodisk Array

Fabrication and evaluation of a new plasmonic thin-film device, demonstrating ehnanced THz emission, with peak-to-peak field values some five times better than conventional devices and a bandwidth of about 5 THz.

CALL FOR PAPERS International Wireless Symposium Submissions Due 2 Feb.

Submit papers by 2 February for the the 5th IEEE MTT-S International Wireless Symposium, “The Convergence of Wireless and Optical for 5G in Beyond,” meeting 6-10 May in Chengdu, China.

SHIELDING Compact Bandgap-Array Phone Case

Mobile phone cases incorporating electromagnetic bandgap (EBG) materials were simulated and studied experimentally. Placing an EBG structure in a phone case can improve antenna gain by 19% and reduce SAR 24%.

CALL FOR PAPERS Submit Advanced Materials and Processes Papers by 2 Apr.

Papers are due 2 April for the 2018 International Microwave Workshop Series on Advanced Materials and Processes, which meets 16-18 July in Ann Arbor, MI. Complete submission information will be posted soon.

ULTRAWIDEBAND Photonic Tightly Coupled Array

The first demonstration of a tightly coupled array (TCA) excited by high-power photodiodes directly integrated onto the antenna substrate exhibits high radiation efficiency between 5 and 20 GHz, and a maximum effective isotropic radiated power of 25 dBm at 13 GHz in the far field.

BIOMEDICINE Vital Sign Radar with Adaptive Compensation

A new-vital signal radar with adaptive dc compensation circuits automatically eliminates dc offsets caused by clutter signals without software-controlled units. Measurements show good agreement with theoretical prediction in detecting heartbeat and respiration at any distance within the detectable range.

COMING UP THz for Space; Texas Wireless and Microwave; Microwave Technology

Upcoming MTT-S-sponsored meetings include Space Terahertz Technology (ISSTT, 26-28 Mar., Pasadena, CA), Wireless and Microwave Circuits and Systems (WMCS, 5-6 Apr., Waco, TX), Wireless and Microwave Technology (WAMICON, 9-10 Apr., Sand Key, FL).