A Probe-Fed Dual-Band Dual-Polarized Mmw Hybrid DRA With Simplified PCB Stack-Up

A millimeter-wave (mmw) dual-band dual-polarized hybrid dielectric resonator antenna (DRA) using probe feed is reported for the first time. The DR is excited by a probe-based feed structure, i.e., a probe-fed square patch underneath it. The DRA can fully comply with the standard PCB fabrication technology. Since the feed part of the proposed DRA can be fully integrated in a single-layered scheme, the antenna PCB stack-up is greatly simplified compared to the existing mmw DRA counterparts using slot aperture feed. An elaborated pin is newly introduced and loaded in the center of the DR in order to perturbate the excited even-order DR modes in bandwidth, i.e., TE
₁₂₁
and TE
₂₂₁
modes, so that the in-band radiation patterns can be acceptable for mmw applications. Simultaneously, a dual-operation band with satisfied radiation patterns is guaranteed by virtue of the hybrid DR/patch structure. The design concept has been verified by prototyping a K-/Ka-band 2×2 array and the measurement results show a decent agreement with the simulations.