Axial Ratio Bandwidth Enhancement of 60-GHz Substrate Integrated Waveguide-Fed Circularly Polarized LTCC Antenna Array

Abstract

A substrate integrated waveguide (SIW)-fed circularly polarized (CP) antenna array with a broad bandwidth of axial ratio (AR) is presented for 60-GHz wireless personal area networks (WPAN) applications. The widened AR bandwidth of an antenna element is achieved by positioning a slot-coupled rotated strip above a slot cut onto the broadwall of an SIW. A 4 × 4 antenna array is designed and fabricated using low temperature cofired ceramic (LTCC) technology. A metal-topped via fence is introduced around the strip to reduce the mutual coupling between the elements of the array. The measured results show that the AR bandwidth is more than 7 GHz. A stable boresight gain is greater than 12.5 dBic across the desired bandwidth of 57-64 GHz.