Metaconductor-Based Integrated Array Antenna for High-Efficiency Millimeter-Wave Wireless Communications and Radar Applications

This letter presents a highly efficient 64-element integrated antenna array for millimeter-wave (mm-wave) communication and radar applications. The antenna uses a metaconductor (MC) made of copper (Cu) and cobalt (Co) to reduce radio frequency (RF) conductor losses. It also uses a double-layered fused silica (FS) stack to minimize the dielectric loss and enhance the fractional bandwidth (FBW). A simulation analysis explored the feasibility of improving antenna realized gain, and prototypes of solid Cu and Cu/Co MC were fabricated using microfabrication and thermal compression-bonding techniques. Characterization was performed using two approaches: 1) s-parameter analysis with a performance network analyzer (PNA), a horn antenna, and the fabricated antennas between 26.5 and 29.5 GHz; and 2) Doppler radar analysis with an RF transceiver, a horn antenna, and the fabricated antennas at 28 GHz. The fabricated MC antenna shows 7% 10-dB FBW and a peak realized gain 9 dB higher than the Cu counterpart at 28 GHz.