Laser ablated millimeter wave metamaterial antenna

This paper presents the design, fabrication and characterization of a zeroth order resonance Composite Right / Left-Handed (CRLH) coplanar waveguide (CPW) antenna on high resistivity silicon substrate, working at 38 GHz. The technological process consisted of a combination of classic photolithography and laser ablation. Laser microprocessing was chosen for the processing of 7 μm wide gaps in the Au/Cr metal layer. Experimental results show RL <; -38 dB / 38.82 GHz, the -3 dB beamwidth of the radiation lobe of approx. 17° (in the transversal plane) and a computed maximum gain of 1.75 dBi / 38.82 GHz.