Conformal Millimeter-Wave Non-Uniform Dipole Array With Improved Gain and Bandwidth

The article investigates a conformal millimeter-wave (mmWave) meander dipole array antenna that provides end-fire radiation with improved performance. The antenna offers various benefits including high gain, wider bandwidth, low side lobe level (SLL), and a simple feeding structure. The design comprises of microstrip fed eight meander dipoles, printed on both sides of the substrate. Initially, a conventional uniform array of 8-elements is designed as a reference, which is then converted into a non-uniform array by reducing the length and spacing of the dipoles in an arithmetic sequence for performance improvement. The operational bandwidth ( $\vert $ S $11\vert \lt -10$ dB) and 3-dB gain bandwidth of the presented mmWave non-unfirm dipole array is improved 97.79 %, and 48.14 %, respectively, compared to the traditional eight-element dipole array. The gain is also increased by 2.1 dBi, and the average SLL is reduced by 17.2 dB. The prototype of the antenna is fabricated, and various results of the proposed work are verified by means of measurements. A strong comparison is observed having a wide impedance bandwidth ranging from 22.9–65.1 GHz (146.75 %) covering Ka- and U-band applications. This arrangement of folded dipoles also enabled smooth gain characteristic (peak value of 10.4 dBi), having 97.10 % bandwidth where the gain variation is $\pm ~3$ dBi. End-fire radiation with stable performance is observed along with a low SLL of −18.6 dB in E-plane and −23.5 dB in the H-plane, at the central frequency of 28 GHz. Moreover, conformal analysis also offers a stable result as compared with flat scenarios which demonstrates its suitability in both rigid and flexible electronic communication systems.