3D Printed High Gain Complementary Dipole/Slot Antenna Array

• Main Authors: Kwok Kan So, Kwai Man Luk, Chi Hou Chan, Ka Fai Chan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2018-08-01
• Series: Applied Sciences
• Subjects: waveguide slot antenna; antenna array; complementary antenna; 3D printing; electroplating
• Online Access: http://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/8/8/1410

By employing the complementary dipole antenna concept to the normal waveguide fed slot radiator, an improved antenna element with wide impedance bandwidth and symmetrical radiation patterns is developed. This is achieved by mounting two additional metallic cuboids on the top of the slot radiator, which is equivalent to adding an electric dipole on top of the magnetic dipole due to the slot radiator. Then, a high-gain antenna array was designed based on the improved element and fabricated, using 3D printing technology, with stable frequency characteristics operated at around 28 GHz. This was followed by metallization via electroplating. Analytical results agree well with the experimental results. The measured operating frequency range for the reflection coefficient ≤−15 dB is from 25.7 GHz to 29.8 GHz; its corresponding fractional impedance bandwidth is 14.8%. The measured gain is approximately 32 dBi, with the 3 dB beamwidth around 4°.