Increasing the resolution of phased antenna arrays of the optical wave band by forming a virtual antenna array

Abstract

Formulation of the problem. When solving the direction-finding problem of determining the direction to radiation sources located at an angular distance less than the width of the main lobe of the direction-finding antenna, the problem of insufficiency of resolution arises. This leads to the fact that two closely located sources will be perceived by the direction finding complex as one. Purpose. The purpose of this work is to study the possibility of solving the problem of resolution of two sources using an optical antenna array with a width of the main lobe smaller than the angular distance between the radiation sources. Results. As a solution to the problem of insufficient resolution, it is proposed to use the method of virtual antenna arrays, which consists in the formation of additional ("virtual") antenna elements using the mathematical apparatus of the Kirchhoff integral and the method of point sources. The article presents the results obtained with the help of mathematical modeling, which confirm the high efficiency of the proposed method. Practical significance. The obtained results can be used to improve the resolution of the direction finders of the optical range only due to an additional signal processing procedure, without making changes to the design of the direction-finding antenna.