A 120 GHz Antenna for LTCC Package with Via-Less Contact Pads for Probe Measurements

This paper presents two 120 GHz Low Temperature Co-fired Ceramics (LTCC) antenna designs with eliminated metallic connections (vias) between structure's layers. The first design is a single element rectangular patch antenna while second is a two element series-fed patch antenna array. Elimination of vias provides more robust construction less susceptible to identified manufacturing issues of mm-Wave devices in LTCC. Presented antennas were manufactured using substrate materials and techniques of "zero shrinkage" LTCC process, significantly improving quality of the structures. Measurements of the structures showed all samples operating similarly to simulated results with some de-tuning, even though no additional processing like laser ablation was used to enhance screen printing resolution. Different influence of surface roughness compared to microstrip lines was also observed.