Silicon nitride 60 GHz antenna for IoT applications

In this work, the design and simulations of a single, 1×4 rectangular patch array antenna on a Silicon nitride (Si₃N₄) substrate operating at millimetre-wave (mm-wave) ISM (The Industrial, Scientific, and Medical) frequency band (57 - 64 (GHz)) are assessed through the simulations. The antenna is designed to be compatible with photonic integrated circuits (PIC) wireless Internet of Things (IoT) front-ends, for a bandwidth requirement of an approximate of 5 GHz, and gain range from 12 - 15 dBi enabling ranges of 5 - 10 meters. These small-sized, high gain antennas can easily be integrated into Si₃N₄ PIC devices. In this work, we started with a single patch and expanded to an array where the Wilkinson four-way power divider network is used. The designed antennas are optimized to achieve 5 GHz of bandwidth and mainly 12 - 15 dBi of gain, meeting the use case requirements. The resulting antenna is benchmarked against other of the same type, and purpose showing similar performance and reduced size.