A high-gain circularly polarized magnetoelectric dipole antenna array with metallic radiating structure for millimeter-wave applications

A high-gain circularly polarized (CP) magnetoelectric (ME) dipole antenna with metallic radiating structure is presented. The proposed CP antenna element consists of two pairs of metallic posts with a supporting metallic plate, a metallic air-filled elliptical cavity, and a feeding slot on the bottom substrate integrated waveguide (SIW). The two pairs of modified rectangular metallic posts combined with the gaps between them act as radiating ME-dipoles which are surrounded by a metallic air-filled elliptical cavity. The above-mentioned radiating structures are fed by a modified cross-shaped coupling slot etched on the bottom feeding SIW to generate CP radiation, where loading the elliptical metallic cavity significantly improve the CP performance of the antenna element. Then, a 4 × 4 antenna array with full-corporate feeding network is designed, fabricated, and measured, which has an impedance bandwidth of 18.9 % from 37.4 to 45.2 GHz and a 3-dB axial ratio (AR) bandwidth of 14.2 % from 36 to 41.5 GHz. Thanks to the all-metal radiating structures, a maximum measured gain of 20.4 dBic has been achieved. The measured and simulated results are in good agreement.