Millimeter-wave proximity-coupled microstrip antenna on an extended hemispherical dielectric lens

A low-cost, high-gain, millimeter-wave antenna is presented. The antenna is composed of a proximity-coupled microstrip patch mounted on the back surface of a substrate lens. The antenna utilizes low dielectric constant, low-cost materials and is therefore suitable to many commercial millimeter-wave systems. A full-wave analysis was developed to analyze the performance of the printed antenna and a prototype was developed for operation at 38 GHz. The impedance bandwidth of the prototype was 8% and the gain was approximately 30 dBi across this frequency span with a front-to-back ratio greater than 60 dB.