It is reported that Nankai University, in collaboration with City University of Hong Kong, has successfully developed a thin-film lithium niobate photonic millimeter-wave radar chip, achieving a significant breakthrough in the field of millimeter-wave radar. This innovative achievement lays a solid foundation for future applications in cutting-edge areas such as 6G communication, autonomous driving, and precise sensing.
Professor Zhu Xia from Nankai University, a member of the research team, stated that the chip is designed based on a 4-inch thin-film lithium niobate platform compatible with CMOS technology. It achieves centimeter-level resolution in distance and velocity detection and demonstrates exceptional precision in inverse synthetic aperture radar (ISAR) two-dimensional imaging. The findings were published in the journal *Nature Photonics* on January 27. This innovation effectively overcomes the technical limitations of traditional electronic radar in low-frequency narrow bandwidths, advancing integrated photonic millimeter-wave radar systems in terms of resolution, flexibility, applicability, and integration.
Microwave photonics has broad applications, including communication, radar, and electronic warfare. As an extension of this technology, microwave photonic radar breaks the trade-off between frequency and bandwidth in traditional electronic radar. Thin-film lithium niobate, due to its unique properties, has become an ideal choice for achieving high-performance electro-optic modulation. By combining advanced photonic integration materials and processes, microwave photonic radar is expected to achieve higher frequencies, larger bandwidths, and smaller sizes in the future, bringing transformative changes to fields such as automotive radar, airborne radar, and smart home systems.
The research team optimized fabrication techniques to successfully integrate frequency multiplication modules and echo de-chirping modules on a single chip, enabling efficient millimeter-wave radar signal generation, processing, and reception. To validate the radar's performance, the team conducted a series of experiments, including distance measurement, velocity measurement, and inverse synthetic aperture imaging tests. The results showed that the radar can accurately detect distance and velocity and produce high-resolution images of various targets.
Professor Zhu Xia emphasized that this achievement not only enhances the performance of existing microwave photonic radar but also sets a new benchmark for the development of future high-performance, miniaturized photonic radar systems. In the upcoming 6G era, this technology is expected to drive significant transformations across multiple fields, marking an important milestone in the development of microwave photonic radar technology.