Short Course Description
Title: Fresnel Zone Plate Antennas for Microwave, MillimeterWave and Terahertz Frequencies
DESCRIPTION
The field of Fresnel zone plate antennas has seen extensive research and development in the
last several years. Scores of articles and three books have been published recently. Zone
plate antennas are being used in applications such as communications, radar, radiometry, and
guidance, where they offer lower weight and volume, as well as simplicity of design. This
course provides attendees with the basic principles of phase-correcting Fresnel zone plate
antennas at microwave, millimeter-wave and terahertz frequencies. The course concentrates
on describing characteristics such as antenna gain, bandwidth, frequency dependence, farfield patterns, efficiency, aberrations, off-axis performance, focal behavior, and feed
considerations for zone plate designs having focal lengths and diameters that are similar in
size. Their performance is comparable or sometimes superior to a standard lens. Many
practical and useful examples are included. Attendees will become fluent with how one designs
zone plate antennas for varying applications. The effects of going to the higher frequencies
will be described.
INSTRUCTOR
Dr. James C. Wiltse is a Principal Research Engineer at Georgia Institute of Technology. He
has been investigating Fresnel zone plate antennas for many years, and is the author of
numerous research publications on the subject. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and
Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and of SPIE (International Optical Engineering Society). A
resume is attached.