Millimeter-wave tapered slot antenna for integration on micromachined low resistivity silicon substrates

This paper presents a millimeter-wave tapered slot antenna (TSA) for integration on a 325 mum thick low resistivity silicon substrate, using micromachining techniques. By suspending the radiator on a 5.5 mm x 1.5 mm large benzocyclobutene (BCB) membrane, good antenna performance is achieved at millimeter-wave frequencies. Port impedance and radiation patterns are studied numerically and experimentally. Measurements indicate that this antenna features good impedance matching (S₁₁ < -10 dB) and a gain of > 4.6 dBi from 75 to 110 GHz. The measured results are in good agreement with numerical simulations.