Differentially Coplanar-Fed Filtering Dielectric Resonator Antenna for Millimeter-Wave Applications

In this letter, a differentially coplanar-fed filtering dielectric resonator antenna (DRA) is proposed for millimeter-wave applications. To realize a low-profile design, a novel coplanar feeding method is presented by incorporating a dielectric resonator and its feeding structure in the same layer, which minimizes the assembly errors. The DRA is shaped by hollowing out the substrate and can be manufactured with a single-layer laminate using standard printed circuit board technology. The DRA operates at TE111mode that is excited differentially by a pair of microstrip lines with metallic vias. The filtering function is obtained by etching two pairs of slots with different lengths in the ground plane, resulting in two radiation nulls at both upper and lower band edges. For demonstration, a prototype is designed, fabricated, and measured. Good agreement can be observed between simulated and measured results.