E-band aperture coupled GaAs / LCP antennas

An E-band aperture coupled patch antenna using a combination of GaAs and liquid crystal polymer (LCP) substrates packaged with a laminated multi-chip module (MCM-L) process is presented in this paper. The antenna offers an electromagnetic interface between a GaAs MMIC and a separate dielectric antenna package. Design, manufacture, packaging and test results of the proposed antenna are presented. Measurement of a waveguide to microstrip transition used in the testing of the antenna is presented with excellent performance obtained across the E-band. Further analysis of the packaging method is required to assess the unpredicted loss observed in the measurements.