Scalable 3-D-Printable Antenna Array With Liquid Cooling for 28 GHz

This article presents a scalable and compact 3-D-printed Vivaldi antenna array with liquid cooling for the frequency band from 24.0 to 29.5 GHz. The proposed design consists of an
$8 \times 8$
antenna array with commercial beam-forming integrated circuits (ICs) on the antenna side of the PCB for efficient PCB area utilization that enables a high integration level. Scalable liquid cooling is integrated into the 3-D-printed antenna array. The measured temperature with water cooling during operation remains below
$50 ^{\circ} \text{C}$
. The simulated total active reflection coefficient (TARC) of the unit cell is lower than −9.6 dB for beam steering angles up to 57° from the broadside. The effective isotropic radiated power (EIRP) of the prototypes is up to 59.7 dBm.