Investigation of a membrane supported D-band antenna with a 3D printed polyamide lens

This paper presents the results obtained for a D-Band double folded slot antenna (DFSA) supported by a thin dielectric membrane released by the deep reactive ion etching of low resistivity silicon (ρ = 10 Ω·cm). The measurement results demonstrated a good matching (|S11| < − 10 dB) between 125 – 170 GHz, with a measured calibrated gain of 5 dBi at 140 GHz. It is demonstrated, by means of electromagnetic simulations, that the gain is increased by 15 dBi in the whole D-band by adding a 10 mm radius 3D printed polyamide lens in the near field of the DFSA chip placed over a metallized surface. The polyamide lens and the DFSA are integrated in a package with a total size of 20×20×20 mm³. This system demonstrates a simulated 3dB gain bandwidth between 124 – 162.5 GHz, with |S11| < − 9dB between 128.5 – 170 GHz.