High-Gain Hybrid Dielectric Resonator Antenna for Millimeter-Wave Applications: Design and Implementation

A new low-cost and high-gain microstrip/dielectric resonator hybrid antenna is described for short-range millimeter-wave communication systems operating in the 57-65 GHz frequency band. The impedance bandwidth (VSWR < 2) of the proposed antenna is wide enough to entirely cover this portion of unlicensed spectrum (ap 5%). Furthermore, the measured high gain (11.9 plusmn 0.9 dB) is fairly constant across the operating band. A study of the electric and magnetic fields inside the hybrid structure concludes that the excitation of a higher-order mode inside the dielectric resonator (namely the HEM_15delta hybrid mode) is responsible for the improved gain since the electrical size of the antenna is increased. In order to validate the proposed design, theoretical calculations and measurements from a fabricated prototype are provided.