Lens Array Module

Abstract

There is disclosed a millimeter wave power source module which may include a plurality of submodules. Each submodule may include a further plurality of circuit devices. Each circuit device may have an input coupled to a corresponding receiving element and an output coupled to a corresponding radiating element. Each submodule may also include a heat spreader for removing heat from the plurality of circuit devices. A combination RF feed network and heat sink may include a waveguide horn to couple an RF input wave to the receiving elements on each of the plurality of submodules. The combination RF feed network and heat sink may also include a heat exchanger thermally coupled to the heat spreaders of each of the plurality of submodules.

Description

NOTICE OF COPYRIGHTS AND TRADE DRESS

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. This patent document may show and/or describe matter which is or may become trade dress of the owner. The copyright and trade dress owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent disclosure as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent files or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright and trade dress rights whatsoever.

RELATED APPLICATION INFORMATION

This patent is related to a copending application, attorney docket number R009-P07238US, entitled “Modular MMW Source Component”.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

This disclosure relates to sources for millimeter wave (MMW) RF power, and to high power sources for W-band applications in particular.

2. Description of the Related Art

Sources of medium and high power MMW radiation can be applied in communications systems and in directed energy weapons. While lower frequency MMW wave application can now be satisfied with solid-state sources, high power sources for the W-band (75 MHz to 110 MHz) traditionally incorporate tubes such as magnetrons or gyrotrons. However, such tubes are expensive, bulky, fragile, and require high voltage electrical power. Thus MMW sources incorporating tubes are not readily portable.

Semiconductor devices are now available for use as oscillators or amplifiers in the W-band, but the available power output from each semiconductor device may be limited to no more than a few watts. Thus medium and high power solid state W-band sources may use quasi-optical methods that combine the power output from a large plurality of semiconductor devices within a waveguide or in free space. Approaches that have been suggested for combining the power output from plural semiconductor devices include the reflect array amplifier described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,765,535, the grid array amplifier described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,559,724, and the lens array or tray amplifier described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,736,908.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a power source module.

FIG. 2 is an end view of a power source module.

FIG. 3A is a side view of a power source module.

FIG. 3B is a side view of a portion of a power source module.

FIG. 4 is a partial exploded view of a combined RF feed network and heat sink.

FIG. 5 is an end view of a modular power source.

FIG. 6 is a top view of a modular power source.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a power source module.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Throughout this description, the embodiments and examples shown should be considered as exemplars, rather than limitations on the apparatus and methods disclosed or claimed.

Description of Apparatus

Referring now to the block diagram of FIG. 1, an exemplary power source module 100 may include a plurality of submodules 140A-H, not all of which are identified in FIG. 1. The submodules 140A-H may or may not be identical. While eight submodules 140A-H are shown in this example, the power source module 100 may include a greater or lesser number of submodules. The number of submodules must be an integer and may be a power of two. Each submodule 140A-H may be comprised of a generally planar substrate supporting a plurality of circuit devices 160A-H. While eight circuit devices 160A-H are shown on submodule 140A in this example, each submodule 140A-H may include a greater or lesser number of circuit devices 160. The number of circuit devices per submodule must be an integer and may be a power of two. The number of circuit devices per submodule may be less than, equal to, or greater than the number of submodules.

Each circuit device 160A-H may include one or more of an amplitude adjuster 162, a phase shifter 164 and an amplifier 166. The amplitude adjuster may be a variable attenuator, a variable gain amplifier stage within or in addition to amplifier 166, or some other gain adjusting device. The amplitude adjuster 162, the phase shifter 164 and the amplifier 166, may be separate devices or components, or may be completed or partially implemented in one or more monolithic microwave integrated circuits. The circuit devices 160A-H on any submodule 140A-H may be identical or may be different.

Each circuit device 160A-H may have an input coupled to a corresponding receiving element and an output coupled to a corresponding radiating element. For example, receiving element 150A may be coupled to the input of circuit element 160A, and the output of circuit element 160A may be coupled to radiating element 170A. Receiving element 150A and radiating element 170A may each be a flared notch antenna, a tapered slot antenna, a Vivaldi antenna, a dipole antenna, a Yagi-uda antenna, or any other end-fire antenna element. Receiving element 150A and radiating element 170A may be identical or may be different.

The power source module 100 may include a wavefront expander 120 to accept an MMW input wavefront 110 and to provide an expanded MMW wavefront 130. The MMW input wavefront 110 may be coupled from a waveguide or other transmission medium. The wavefront expander 120, represented in the block diagram of FIG. 1 as a pyramidal horn, may include a pyramidal horn, a parallel-plate horn, a waveguide power divider or other power divider, lenses, curved or flat reflectors, and combinations of these and other elements. The expanded MMW wavefront 130 may be a plane wave or other wavefront.

The expanded MMW wavefront 130 may be coupled to the receiving elements, such as receiving element 150A, on the submodules 140A-H. Each receiving element may convert a portion of the energy of expanded MMW wavefront 130 into a signal coupled to the input of a corresponding circuit device. Each circuit device may amplify or otherwise modify the input signal from the corresponding receiving element and provide an output signal to the corresponding radiating element. For example, receiving element 150A may provide an input signal to circuit device 160A. Circuit device 160A may, in turn, provide an output signal to radiating element 170A. Each radiating element may convert the output signal from the corresponding circuit element into a radiated wavefront (not shown). The radiated wavefronts from the plurality of radiating elements on the plurality of submodules may be spatially combined to provide an output wavefront (not shown) that differs from the expanded wavefront 130 in amplitude, direction, or some other property. The spatially combined output wavefront may be coupled into an output waveguide (not shown) or radiated into free space.

FIG. 2 is an end view of a power source module 200, which may be similar in architecture and function to power source module 100. A plurality of submodules 240A-H may be stacked in parallel between heat sink structures 222 and 228, which may function to remove heat from the submodules 240A-H. The heat sink structures 222 and 228 may include slots, kerfs, or other features (not shown) to align and support the plurality of submodules 240A-H. Each submodule may include a dielectric substrate 242 supporting a plurality of circuit devices, of which circuit device 260 is typical. The dielectric substrate 242 may be fabricated of alumina, beryllia, aluminum nitride, or other dielectric material suitable for use at the frequency of operation of the power source module 200.

Each dielectric substrate 242 may support linear arrays of receiving elements and radiating elements coupled to and generally aligned with the circuit devices such as circuit device 160. The receiving elements and radiating elements may be constructed as metal films on one or both sides of the dielectric substrate 242 and are thus not visible in FIG. 2. The plurality of submodules may be stacked in parallel and appropriately spaced such that the plurality of radiating elements are located on a Cartesian X-Y grid, with the ends of the plurality of radiating elements lying in a common plane. The spacing between the columns of elements (the center-to-center spacing of the submodules as shown in FIG. 2) may be λx, where λ is the frequency of operation of the power source module 200 and x is a constant typically between 0.5 and 1.0. The spacing between adjacent columns of elements may be exactly equal to the nominal spacing of λx or may deviate from the nominal spacing by a tolerance. The tolerance may be ±λ/10 or some other tolerance. The constant x may be selected such that the nominal spacing between the columns of elements may between 0.5λ and 1.0λ.

The spacing between the rows of elements (the center-to-center spacing of the radiating elements on each submodule as shown in FIG. 2) may be λy, where λ is the frequency of operation of the power source module 200 and y is a constant typically between 0.5 and 1.0. The spacing between adjacent rows of elements may be exactly equal to the nominal spacing of λy or may deviate from the nominal spacing by a tolerance. The tolerance may be ±λ/10 or some other tolerance. The constant y may be selected such that the spacing between the rows of elements may between 0.5λ and 1.0λ. The constants x and y may be equal or may be different.

Each submodule may also include a heat spreader 244 to conduct heat from the circuit devices to the heat sink structures 222 and 228. The heat spreader may be comprised of a metal material such as aluminum or copper, or a thermally conductive ceramic material such as alumina, beryllia, or aluminum nitride. The heat spreader 244 may be the same material as the dielectric substrate 242 or another material. The heat spreader 244 may be bonded or otherwise attached to the dielectric substrate 242 with a heat conducting material. Similarly, the interfaces 246 and 247 between the heat spreader 244 and the heat sink structures 222 and 228 may be filled with a heat conducting material. Suitable heat conducting materials may include a thermally-conductive grease, a thermally-conductive adhesive, a brazing material, or some other thermally-conductive material.

The power source module 200 may include end caps on one or both sides, of which only end cap 280 is shown in FIG. 2. The end cap 280 may include a metal plate 282 and may include a dielectric plate 284. The position of the end cap 280 and the thickness and dielectric constant of dielectric plate 284 may be selected to create a fixed boundary condition on an expanded wavefront (130 in FIG. 1, for example) coupled into the submodules 240A-240H.

FIG. 3A is a side view of a power source module 300, which may be similar to the power source module 200 of FIG. 2. The power source module 300 may contain a plurality of submodules stacked in parallel, of which only submodule 340A is visible. Submodule 340A may include a plurality of circuit devices, of which circuit device 360A is representative. Each circuit device may have an input coupled to a receiving element and an output coupled to a radiating element. For example, receiving element 350A may be coupled to the input of circuit device 360A, and the output of circuit device 360A may be coupled to radiating element 370A.

The edges of the submodules (i.e. the top and bottom edges as shown in FIG. 3A) not occupied by the receiving elements and the radiating elements may be in thermal contact with metal structures 328 and 322. Metal structures 322, 328, and 324 may collectively form a combined heat sink and wavefront expander. The wavefront expander may accept an input wavefront 310 from a waveguide or other transmission medium and form an expanded wavefront 338 coupled to the plurality of receiving elements on the plurality of submodules.

The wavefront expander may be comprised of two sections. The first section may be a waveguide power divider 380 that expands the input wavefront along the axis normal to the page in FIG. 3A. Referring now to FIG. 4, the waveguide power divider 380 may be formed by channels machined into metal structure 324, as shown, or metal structure 322 or both metal structures 322 and 324. The waveguide power divider may accept the input wavefront 310 and provide a uniaxially expanded intermediate wavefront 332.

Referring back to FIG. 3A, the second section of the wavefront expander may be a parallel plate horn comprised of metal structures 322 and 328. The parallel plate horn may accept the uniaxially expended intermediate wavefront 332 from the waveguide power divider 380. The parallel plate horn may gradually expand the wavefront, as indicated by dashed lines 334 and 336. The output of the parallel plate horn may be an expanded wavefront 338 coupled to the plurality of receiving elements on the submodules, of which receiving element 350A is representative. The parallel plate horn may be specifically shaped to maintain a parallel plate mode. The expanded wavefront 338 may be a plane wave or other wavefront.

Metal structures 322 and 328 may function as a heat exchanger to remove heat generated in the submodules such as submodule 340A. Metal structures 322 and 328 may each include one or more heat exchanger coolant channels 390. Heat generated in the circuit devices on the submodules may be coupled to the metal structures 322 and 328 by heat spreaders incorporated in each submodule. This heat may be conducted through the metal structures 322 and 328, and then transferred to a coolant fluid flowing through the heat exchanger coolant channels 390. The coolant fluid may be gaseous or liquid. While the heat exchanger coolant channels are shown as simple circular openings in FIG. 3, the coolant channels may include fins, vanes, posts and other structures. Such structures may be incorporated to increase the surface area exposed to the flowing coolant and/or to increase the turbulence of the coolant to improve the efficiency of heat transfer from the metal structures to the coolant. Each metal structure 322 and 328 may have multiple coolant channels, which may be disposed at any location where the thickness of the metal structure is sufficient.

Metal structures 324 and 328 may be a single continuous piece, or may be separated by a dielectric slab 326. When the dielectric slab is present, metal structure 328 may be electrically isolated at DC and low frequencies from metal structures 324 and 322. When the dielectric slab 326 is present metal structures 322 and 328 are DC isolated, and may be used as a DC feed network to provide DC electrical power to the submodules, such as submodule 340A. In this case, each submodule may be electrically coupled to the metal structures 322 and 328.

When metal structures 324 and 328 are DC isolated by dielectric slab 326, a standard RF choke groove 327 may be cut into either metal structure 324 or 328. The use of such grooves is fairly common practice when joining waveguide flanges. The RF choke groove is located one-fourth of a wavelength (accounting for the dielectric constant of the dielectric slab 326) from the surface of the metal structure, and is cut one-fourth of a wavelength deep. The resultant effect is a one-half wavelength shorted transmission line which acts as an RF short across the discontinuity caused by dielectric slab 326. Thus the presence of the dielectric slab 326 does not effect propagation of the MMW wavefront in the parallel plate horn formed by metal structures 322 and 328.

When the metal structures 322 and 328 are used as a DC feed network to provide DC electrical power to the submodules, such as submodule 340A, end caps (not visible in FIG. 3) may still be used to bound the wavefronts (332, 334, 336, 338) within the wavefront expander. However, in this case, the end caps must be designed and disposed in a manner that does not create an electrical short between the metal structures 322 and 328.

FIG. 3B is a side view of a portion of a power source module, which may be similar to the power source module 300 of FIG. 3A. FIG. 3B shows a submodule 341A and portions of metal structures 323 and 329 which may function to remove heat from a plurality of submodules, of which only submodule 341A is visible. Submodule 341A includes a plurality of radiating elements, such as radiating element 371A, and a plurality of receiving elements such a receiving element 351A. In the example of FIG. 3B, a center-to-center spacing of the plurality of receiving elements may be smaller than a center-to-center spacing of the plurality of radiating elements, allowing a greater cross-sectional area for metal structures 323 and 329 as compared to metal structures 322 and 328 of FIG. 3A.

FIG. 5 is an end view of a modular MMW power source comprised of four power source modules 500A-D, which may be similar to power source module 300 of FIG. 3. The four modules are juxtaposed to form a 2N×2M Cartesian array of radiating elements, where N is the number of submodules per module and M is the number of radiating elements per submodule. The width 510 of each module, measured normal to the planes of the submodules, may be essentially equal to Nλx, where λ is the operating frequency of the power source and x is a constant typically between 0.5 and 1.0. In this context, “essentially equal to” means exactly equal to the nominal value of ±λx or deviating from the nominal value by no more than an acceptable tolerance, which may be ±λ/10. In the event that the width of each module is exactly equal to Nλx, the modules may be directly abutted to maintain uniform spacing 520 essentially equal to λx between columns of radiating elements. In the event that the width of each module is slightly less than Nλx, shims or another spacing mechanism may be used to establish the correct spacing between adjacent modules.

The height 530 of each submodule may be essentially equal to Mλy. To allow room for the metal structures that conduct heat away from the submodules, the height 530 of each submodule may be essentially equal to (M+1)λy. In this case the spacing 540 between rows of radiating elements may be essentially equal to λy except at the boundaries between adjacent submodules, where the spacing 550 between radiating elements may be essentially equal to 2λy. Effectively, a single row of radiating elements may be missing at the boundary between adjacent modules.

As used in the preceding paragraphs, height and width, and row and column, are relative terms descriptive of the modular power source as shown in FIG. 5. These terms do not imply any absolute orientation of the modular power source.

The modular MMW power source may include end caps, similar to end cap 280 of FIG. 2 but not shown in FIG. 5, to create appropriate boundary conditions for the modules. The end caps may only be disposed on the outside of the module MMW power source module (on the right and left sides as shown in FIG. 5).

FIG. 6 is a side view of power source modules 600A and 600B, which may be similar to power source module 300 and may be a portion of a modular power source such as that shown in FIG. 5. The heat exchanger coolant channel 690 may be coupled from power source module 600A to power source module 600B such that a coolant fluid may flow continuously through the adjacent power source modules. Alternatively, each power source module 600A and 600B may have an independent coolant inlet and outlet, not shown. To improve the heat conduction from the submodules (not visible in FIG. 6) to a heat exchanger coolant channel 690, each submodule 600A, 600B may have a high thermal conductivity insert 695. The high thermal conductivity insert 695 may be a slab of a high thermal conductivity material that is bonded into a recess machined into the metal structure 628. The high thermal conductivity material may have a thermal conductivity substantially higher than the thermal conductivity of the metal structure 628. For example, the metal structure 628 may be fabricated from copper to provide high electrical conductivity, and the insert 695 may be pyrolytic graphite which has a thermal conductivity on one axis nearly four times that of copper.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a power source module 700, which may be similar to power source module 300. Power source module 700 may include provisions, such as pins 796, for aligning and mating adjacent power source modules in a modular power source such as that previously shown in FIG. 5. Portions of the metal structure, not required for the wavefront expander or DC feed network, may be removed to reduce weight, forming cavities such as cavity 798. Power source module 700 may include features, such as slot 755, in the heat sink metal structures to hold and align the submodules. Power source module 700 may include features, such as the counterbore 792 and the mating O-ring 794 to seal the heat exchanger coolant channels 790 between adjacent power source modules in a modular power source such as that previously shown in FIG. 5.

Closing Comments

The foregoing is merely illustrative and not limiting, having been presented by way of example only. Although examples have been shown and described, it will be apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art that changes, modifications, and/or alterations may be made.

Although many of the examples presented herein involve specific combinations of method acts or system elements, it should be understood that those acts and those elements may be combined in other ways to accomplish the same objectives. With regard to flowcharts, additional and fewer steps may be taken, and the steps as shown may be combined or further refined to achieve the methods described herein. Acts, elements and features discussed only in connection with one embodiment are not intended to be excluded from a similar role in other embodiments.

For means-plus-function limitations recited in the claims, the means are not intended to be limited to the means disclosed herein for performing the recited function, but are intended to cover in scope any means, known now or later developed, for performing the recited function.

As used herein, “plurality” means two or more.

As used herein, a “set” of items may include one or more of such items.

As used herein, whether in the written description or the claims, the terms “comprising”, “including”, “carrying”, “having”, “containing”, “involving”, and the like are to be understood to be open-ended, i.e., to mean including but not limited to. Only the transitional phrases “consisting of” and “consisting essentially of”, respectively, are closed or semi-closed transitional phrases with respect to claims.

Use of ordinal terms such as “first”, “second”, “third”, etc., in the claims to modify a claim element does not by itself connote any priority, precedence, or order of one claim element over another or the temporal order in which acts of a method are performed, but are used merely as labels to distinguish one claim element having a certain name from another element having a same name (but for use of the ordinal term) to distinguish the claim elements.

As used herein, “and/or” means that the listed items are alternatives, but the alternatives also include any combination of the listed items.

Claims

1. A millimeter wave power source module, comprising N submodules, where N is an integer greater than 1, each submodule comprising M circuit devices, where M is an integer greater than 1, each circuit device having an input and an outputM receiving elements, each coupled to the input of a corresponding one of the M circuit devicesM radiating elements, each coupled to the output of a corresponding one of the M circuit devicesa heat spreader for removing heat from the M circuit devicesa combination RF feed network and heat sink comprising a wavefront expander to receive an RF input wave, to expand the RF input wave along at least one axis, and to couple the expanded RF input wave to the M receiving elements on each of the N submodulesa heat exchanger thermally coupled to the heat spreaders of each of the N submodules.

2. The millimeter wave power source module of claim 1, wherein M and N are powers of two.

3. The millimeter wave power source module of claim 2, wherein M and N are equal.

4. The millimeter wave power source module of claim 1, wherein the N submodules are stacked in parallel to provide a planar array of N×M radiating elements.

5. The millimeter wave power source module of claim 4, wherein the N×M radiating elements are disposed on a rectilinear X-Y grid with the spacing between adjacent pairs of radiating elements between 0.5λ and 1.0λ on each of the X and Y axes, where λ is an operating frequency of the millimeter wave power source module.

6. The millimeter wave power source module of claim 5, wherein the overall dimensions of the millimeter wave power source module, measured along the X-Y grid are essentially equal to Nλx by Mλy or Nλx by (M+1)λy, wherein x and y are constants between 0.5 and 1.0.

7. The millimeter wave power source module of claim 4, wherein the module is adapted to be juxtaposed with a plurality of similar modules to provide a modular array, wherein the radiating elements of the modular array are disposed on a rectilinear X-Y grid with the spacing between adjacent grid points equal to λx on the X axis and λy on the Y axis, wherein λ is an operating frequency of the millimeter wave power source module and wherein x and y are constants between 0.5 and 1.0.no more than one row or column of radiating elements is absent at the boundary between adjacent juxtaposed module.

8. The millimeter wave power source module of claim 1, wherein each circuit device comprises at least one of an amplifier, an amplitude adjuster, and a phase shifter.

9. The millimeter wave power source module of claim 1, wherein each receiving element and each radiating element comprises a Vivaldi notch element.

10. The millimeter wave power source module of claim 1, the combination RF feed network and heat sink further comprising a waveguide power dividera parallel plate hornwherein the parallel plate horn expands the RF input wave along a first axis and the waveguide power divider expands the RF input wave along a second axis orthogonal to the first axis.

11. The millimeter wave power source module of claim 1, the combination RF feed network and heat sink further comprising at least one insert of a high thermal conductivity materialwherein the combination RF feed network and heat sink is formed primarily from an electrically conductive metal material and the thermal conductivity of the high thermal conductivity material is substantially higher than the thermal conductivity of the electrically conductive metal material.

12. The millimeter wave power source module of claim 11, wherein the high thermal conductivity material is pyrolytic graphite.

13. The millimeter wave power source module of claim 1, the combination RF feed network and heat sink further comprising a DC power feed to the N submodules.

14. The millimeter wave power source module of claim 13, the combination RF feed network and heat sink further comprising a first portiona second portion DC-isolated from the first portionwherein the first portion and the second portion conduct DC power to the N submodules.

15. The millimeter wave power source module of claim 14, the combination RF feed network and heat sink further comprising a dielectric plate disposed between the first portion and the second portion to provide DC isolationan RF choke groove cut into one of the first portion and the second portion, the RF choke groove to provide an RF short between the first portion and the second portion.

16. The millimeter wave power source module of claim 1, wherein the combination RF feed network and heat sink couples a plane wave of millimeter wave radiation to the receiving elements on the N submodules.

17. A millimeter wave power source module, comprising N submodules, where N is an integer greater than 1, each submodule comprising M circuit devices, where M is an integer greater than 1, each circuit device having an input and an outputM receiving elements, each coupled to the input of a corresponding one of the M circuit devicesM radiating elements, each coupled to the output of a corresponding one of the M circuit devicesa combination RF and DC feed network comprising a wavefront expander including a first portion and a second portion DC-isolated from the first portion, the wavefront expander to receive an RF input wave, to expand the RF input wave along at least one axis, and to couple the expanded RF input wave to the M receiving elements on each of the N submoduleswherein the first portion and the second portion conduct DC power to the N submodules.

18. The millimeter wave power source module of claim 17, the combination RF and DC feed network further comprising a dielectric plate disposed between the first portion and the second portion to provide DC isolationan RF choke groove cut into one of the first portion and the second portion, the RF choke groove to provide an RF short between the first portion and the second portion.

19. The millimeter wave power source module of claim 17, wherein the combination RF and DC feed network couples a plane wave of millimeter wave radiation to the receiving elements on the N submodules.

20. The millimeter wave power source module of claim 17, wherein M and N are equal powers of two.

21. The millimeter wave power source module of claim 17, wherein the N submodules are stacked in parallel to provide a planar array of N×M radiating elements.

22. The millimeter wave power source module of claim 21, wherein the N×M radiating elements are disposed on a rectilinear X-Y grid with the spacing between adjacent pairs of radiating elements equal to λx on the X axis and λy on the Y axis, wherein X is an operating frequency of the millimeter wave power source module and wherein x and y are constants between 0.5 and 1.0.

23. The millimeter wave power source module of claim 22, wherein the overall dimensions of the millimeter wave power source module, measured along the X-Y grid are essentially equal to Nλx by Mλy or Nλx by (M+1)λy.

24. The millimeter wave power source module of claim 21, wherein the module is adapted to be juxtaposed with a plurality of similar modules to provide a modular array, wherein the radiating elements of the modular array are disposed on a rectilinear X-Y grid with the spacing between adjacent grid points equal to λx on the X axis and λy on the Y axis, wherein λ is an operating frequency of the millimeter wave power source module and wherein x and y are constants between 0.5 and 1.0no more than one row or column of radiating elements is absent at the boundary between adjacent juxtaposed module.

25. The millimeter wave power source module of claim 17, wherein each circuit device comprises at least one of a power amplifier, an amplitude adjuster, and a phase shifter.

26. The millimeter wave power source module of claim 17, wherein each receiving element and each radiating element comprises a Vivaldi notch element.

27. The millimeter wave power source module of claim 17, the combination RF and DC feed further comprising a waveguide power dividera parallel plate hornwherein the parallel plate horn expands the RF input wave along a first axis and the waveguide power divider expands the RF input wave along a second axis orthogonal to the first axis.

28. A millimeter wave power source array, comprising a plurality of juxtaposed modules, wherein each module further comprises N submodules, where N is an integer greater than 1, each submodule comprising M circuit devices, where M is an integer greater than 1, each circuit device having an input and an outputM receiving elements, each coupled to the input of a corresponding one of the M circuit devicesM radiating elements, each coupled to the output of a corresponding one of the M circuit devicesa heat spreader for removing heat from the M circuit devicesa combination RF feed network and heat sink comprising a wavefront expander to receive an RF input wave, to expand the RF input wave along at least one axis, and to couple the expanded RF input wave to the M receiving elements on each of the N submodulesa heat exchanger thermally coupled to the heat spreaders of each of the N submodules.

29. A millimeter wave power source array, comprising a plurality of juxtaposed modules, wherein each module further comprises N submodules, where N is an integer greater than 1, each submodule comprising M circuit devices, where M is an integer greater than 1, each circuit device having an input and an outputM receiving elements, each coupled to the input of a corresponding one of the M circuit devicesM radiating elements, each coupled to the output of a corresponding one of the M circuit devicesa combination RF and DC feed network comprising a wavefront expander including a first portion and a second portion DC-isolated from the first portion, the wavefront expander to receive an RF input wave, to expand the RF input wave along at least one axis, and to couple the expanded RF input wave to the M receiving elements on each of the N submoduleswherein the first portion and the second portion conduct DC power to the N submodules.

30. A millimeter wave power source module, comprising N submodules, where N is an integer greater than 1, each submodule comprising a linear array of M radiating elementsa heat spreader for removing heata combination RF feed network and heat sink comprising a wavefront expander to receive an RF input wave, to expand the RF input wave along at least one axis, and to couple the expanded RF input wave to the N submodulesa heat exchanger thermally coupled to the heat spreaders of each of the N submodules.

31. The millimeter wave power source module of claim 30, wherein the N submodules are stacked in parallel to provide a planar array of N×M radiating elements.

32. The millimeter wave power source module of claim 31, wherein the millimeter wave power source module is adapted to be juxtaposed with a plurality of similar modules to provide a modular array, wherein the radiating elements of the modular array are disposed on a rectilinear X-Y grid with the spacing between adjacent grid points equal to λx on the X axis and λy on the Y axis, wherein λ is an operating frequency of the millimeter wave power source module and wherein x and y are constants between 0.5 and 1.0no more than one row or column of radiating elements is absent at the boundary between adjacent juxtaposed module.

33. A millimeter wave power source module, comprising N submodules, where N is an integer greater than 1, each submodule comprising a linear array of M radiating elementsa combination RF and DC feed network comprising a wavefront expander including a first portion and a second portion DC-isolated from the first portion, the wavefront expander to receive an RF input wave, to expand the RF input wave along at least one axis, and to couple the expanded RF input wave to the N submoduleswherein the first portion and the second portion conduct DC power to the N submodules.

34. The millimeter wave power source module of claim 33, wherein the N submodules are stacked in parallel to provide a planar array of N×M radiating elements.

35. The millimeter wave power source module of claim 34, wherein the millimeter wave power source module is adapted to be juxtaposed with a plurality of similar modules to provide a modular array, wherein the radiating elements of the modular array are disposed on a rectilinear X-Y grid with the spacing between adjacent grid points equal to λx on the X axis and λy on the Y axis, wherein λ is an operating frequency of the millimeter wave power source module and wherein x and y are constants between 0.5 and 1.0no more than one row or column of radiating elements is absent at the boundary between adjacent juxtaposed module.