A wide-band and high-efficiency planar antenna array with a novel hybrid-feed structure is proposed in this article. By combing the coaxial-line feed magneto-electric (ME) dipoles with the aperture coupled dielectric cavity, a hybrid-feed 2 × 2-unit ME-dipole sub-array is invented. The low-loss ridge gap waveguide (RGWG) corporate-feed network is used to replace the high-loss substrate-based feed networks and high-cost RWG feed networks. New forms of RGWG H-plane divider are designed to build the RGWG feed network. An 8 × 8-unit ME-dipole antenna array is designed and fabricated to verify the validity of the array. The radiation part consists of two layers of a low-cost printed circuit board (PCB), and the feeding part consists of two copper plates manufactured by computer numerical control (CNC) milling. Measured results show that a relative bandwidth of 16.4% with |S11| < −10 dB is achieved, with a maximum radiation efficiency of 85%. The stable symmetric radiation patterns are observed in both the E-plane and H-plane, covering the operation band. Based on the measured results, a 16 × 16-unit ME-dipole antenna array is simulated. Results indicate that the proposed array has wide-band and high-efficiency features, which is suitable for large-scale array design in mm-wave wireless systems.
A Ka-band dual-polarization magnetoelectric (ME) dipole antenna array based on three-dimensional (3D)-printed technology with low sidelobe level (SLL) is proposed in this paper. The metal posts and cross-slots are explored to build a novel subarray with 2 × 2-unit ME-dipoles as the basic element. Creatively, a square waveguide to cross-slots transition with a pyramid horn cavity structure is investigated to feed the ME-dipole subarray. Furthermore, two types of power-tapering corporate-feed networks with laminated structures are used to design an 8 × 8-unit low-SLL array. The fabricated array has a relative bandwidth (VSWR < 2) of 14.3% and 17.1%, with a realized gain higher than 25.8 dBi and 26.1 dBi for the H-pol. and V-pol., respectively. The maximum radiation efficiency for both arrays is 73.2%. The measured first sidelobe levels are less than –17.5 dB for both polarizations. With competitive performance and low fabrication cost, the proposed dual-polarization ME-dipole antenna array would be valuable for polarization-agile radar and communication systems.
A W-band, high-gain, hybrid slot antenna array based on bulk silicon MEMS technology is proposed in this paper. The high-order-mode cavity is explored to excite the 2 × 2-slot basic unit, so as to reach the low-profile requirement of the bulk silicon MEMS process. To avoid the fragile structure of the large-scale antenna arrays based on the bulk silicon MEMS process, the ridge gap waveguide is employed to build the feed network for a large-scale array. A vertical transition between a rectangular waveguide and a ridge gap waveguide is designed to support the low-loss and low-cost assembling method between the radiation units and the feed network. An 8 × 8-slot hybrid antenna array is simulated and fabricated. The measured results show a relative bandwidth (VSWR < 2) of 8.1% with the first side-lobe level less than −11 dB over the frequency band of 91–97 GHz. A maximum gain of 26.1 dBi with the radiation efficiency of 65.2% is achieved. With high gain and high fabrication efficiency, the proposed hybrid slot antenna array would be valuable for W-band radar applications.