Highly Efficient and Wideband Millimeter-Wave Slotted-Array Antenna Technology for 5G Communications

The 5G, 6G of future wireless technology has brought a growing demand for different types of electrically small or large antennas, which are highly efficient, directive, and provide wideband coverage. We have presented here a compact and highly efficient slotted-array antenna technology operating at a millimeter-wave frequency range to be used for the emerging applications of 5G wireless backhauling and mobile radio services. The antenna consists of two conducting plates, with the upper plate having a slotted array in the form of a spiral. A waveguide forms between these plates and supports outward traveling TEM waves generated from a single coaxial connector at the center of the antenna. The slots are arrayed to generate circularly polarized electric fields. The antenna was simulated using CST Microwave Studio to validate the design mechanism. With a compact dimension of 0.1 m diameter, the proposed antenna achieved an extremely high gain of 27.2 dBic. The antenna has shown a wide 3dB gain bandwidth of 4.6 GHz, ranging from 33.2 GHz to 37.8 GHz, and an overall wide bandwidth of 13%. The antenna has demonstrated an aperture efficiency of 43%, and the total efficiency is varied between (87–93)% over the operating frequency range.