Reconceiving Impedance Matching and Mismatching to Mitigate Bias-Drift in Insertion Loss of Liquid Crystal Phase Delay Lines

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4302/plp.v17i1.1333

Abstract

In microwave (MW), millimeter-wave (mmW), terahertz (THz), and optical beam-steering applications, amplitude imbalance among radiating elements in a phased array antenna feed system can become a point of significance in performance degradation, leading to beam squints, spatial errors, and uneven component lifespans. Higher power consumption in certain elements accelerates material hardening and aging, thereby increasing maintenance costs. This paper proposes a novel and cost-effective hardware approach to mitigate insertion loss imbalance in liquid crystal phase delay lines (LC-PDLs). The method compensates for internal losses without relying on feedback loops, thereby eliminating the need for conventional amplifiers or attenuators.

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References

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Author Biographies

Jinfeng Li, Beijing Institute of Technology

Prof. Jinfeng Li is a microwave engineer, a specialist in novel reconfigurable RF devices, as well as an authority on liquid crystals-based microwave and millimetre-wave technology. He received the Ph.D. degree in liquid crystals-based microwave and millimeter-wave electronics engineering from University of Cambridge. Prof. Li was a recipient of the IET Award, the AP Jarvis Prize (highest final-year-project honour in University of Birmingham), the AETiC Highly Cited Article Award 2023, and three Best Paper Awards at IEEE, IOP and IET conferences, respectively. He was a Cambridge Trust Scholar, Speaker at IEEE AP-S/URSI 2024 and the 50th & 46th European Microwave Conferences, Emerging Technologist with Barclays UK, Editorial Board member of three Science Citation Index journals, TPC and Session Chair of seven IEEE conferences, including IEEE ISAP (27th International Symposium on Antennas and Propagation), IEEE 15th International Conference on Microwave and Millimeter Wave Technology (ICMMT 2023), IEEE/IFAC 10th International Conference on Control, Decision and Information Technologies (CoDIT 2024), IEEE COINS 2024, IEEE VCC 2024, IEEE SNAMS 2019, and 5th China and International Young Scientist Terahertz Conference etc. He was elected Senior Member of the China Institute of Communications (CIC), Top 1% Reviewer on Publons (Web of Science), Reviewing Expert for the China Academic Degrees and Graduate Education Development Center, Grants Reviewer for the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), Newton Prize (£1m fund) reviewer for the UK National Commission for UNESCO, and Grants Reviewer for the Health and Social Care Delivery Research (HSDR) fund from National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), UK. Prof. Li is also an award-winning Concert Pianist and Composer with over 20 piano recitals across China and the UK (2004 - now). He was elected National-level Young Talent in 2023. He teaches four undergraduate modules including (1) States of the Arts in Liquid Crystals Millimeter-wave Technology for 6G; (2) Frontiers and Progress of Electrical and Computer Engineering; (3) States of the Arts in Piano; and (4) Frontiers of Electronic Science and Technology. He and his student won the Best Paper Award at IET GEn-CITy 2024.

Haorong Li, Beijing Institute of Technology

Haorong Li is pursuing a postgraduate degree in microwave and terahertz engineering at the Beijing Institute of Technology under the supervision of Prof. Jinfeng Li who leads the Liquid Crystal Millimeter-wave Technology Group. Haorong received the Special Scholarship from the School of Integrated Circuits and Electronics and was awarded the Excellent Postgraduate Student title at the Beijing Institute of Technology in 2024. He won the Best Paper Award (Student) at the IET International Conference on Green Energy, Computing and Intelligent Technology (GEn-CITy 2024).

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Published

2025-03-31

How to Cite

[1]
J. Li and H. Li, “Reconceiving Impedance Matching and Mismatching to Mitigate Bias-Drift in Insertion Loss of Liquid Crystal Phase Delay Lines”, Photonics Lett. Pol., vol. 17, no. 1, pp. 35–37, Mar. 2025.

Issue

Vol. 17 No. 1 (2025)

Section

Articles

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Copyright (c) 2025 Jinfeng Li, Haorong Li

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