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Hirokawa Lab
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An antenna lab that designs and prototypes planar antennas with new structures found nowhere else in the world.
AboutAbout the lab
Planar antennas with new structures found nowhere else in the world.
The Hirokawa Lab studies planar antennas with new structures not found anywhere else in the world.
Working with high-frequency radio waves known as microwaves and millimeter waves, the lab has proposed low-loss waveguides and circuits that switch the direction of radio waves.
Designed antennas are prototyped at the frequencies where they will actually be used, and verified with measurement facilities specialized for planar antennas, such as an anechoic chamber.
Key terms
- Millimeter wave
- A radio wave with a wavelength on the order of millimeters and a very high frequency.
- Waveguide
- A path that confines radio waves and carries them along a fixed route.
- Diffusion bonding
- A joining method in which metals are stacked and subjected to heat and pressure so that atoms at the interface mix and the pieces become one.
- Butler matrix
- A circuit that shifts the timing (phase) of signals sent to multiple antennas in order to switch the direction in which radio waves are emitted.
NewsLab news
Prof. Hirokawa and colleagues received the ComEX Best Letter Award
Prof. Hirokawa received the Prize for Science and Technology (Research Category) of the Commendation for Science and Technology by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology
A master's student received an Encouragement Award for young researchers at TJMW2025
A doctoral student received an IEEE AP-S Japan award for young engineers
ResearchResearch themes
The lab studies planar antennas with new structures not found anywhere else in the world. It designs antennas and waveguides for the microwave and millimeter-wave bands, then prototypes and measures them at the frequencies where they will actually be used.
*Illustrative imagePost-wall waveguide
The lab introduced the post-wall waveguide, a low-loss waveguide for the microwave and millimeter-wave bands. It is also known as the Substrate Integrated Waveguide.
*Illustrative imageAntennas made of stacked thin metal plates
The lab introduced an antenna made by stacking thin metal plates, joining them by diffusion bonding, and feeding them in parallel. Research on this approach has since started in Sweden, Singapore, China, and elsewhere.
*Illustrative imageSwitching the direction of radio waves in two dimensions
The lab introduced a Butler matrix that switches the direction of radio waves in two dimensions. Whereas two stages of one-dimensional switching circuits were previously connected in series, the lab combined them into a single circuit in terms of function.
*Illustrative imageOrthogonal multiplexing transmission (ROM)
The lab replaced orbital angular momentum (OAM) transmission from the field of optics with an equivalent transmission scheme suited to the microwave and millimeter-wave bands, and studied it.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Hirokawa Lab consist of faculty, researchers, doctoral, master's, and undergraduate students, and administrative assistants.As of 2026
- ProfessorJiro HirokawaPublications ↗
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Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “Compact AIS antenna” ESA – G. Porter / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Post-wall waveguide: “Rectangular waveguide TE10 (E field, on-end view)” Kyrsjo / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Antennas made of stacked thin metal plates: “Slot antenna section3” Ciacho5 / Public domain (cropped)
- Switching the direction of radio waves in two dimensions: “CSIRO ScienceImage 11278 CSIROs prototype phased array feed in position on an antenna for testing” David McClenaghan, CSIRO / CC BY 3.0 (cropped)
- Orthogonal multiplexing transmission (ROM): “Feedingstrips” Ulfbastel / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Tomura Lab): “Radio-frequency-anechoic-chamber-HDR-0a” Adamantios / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Shirane Lab): “DARPA amplifier on silicon USC” University of Southern California and Columbia University / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Aoyagi Lab): “Reverberation chamber” Manuamador / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Uenohara Lab): “Optical fiber cable-06ASD” Asurnipal / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
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