Tackling the Issues of Millimeter-wave On-chip Antenna Measurements

On-chip antennas are becoming more and more important due to the high level of integration and lower costs they offer as part of System-on-Chip solutions. However, the accurate characterization of mm-wave on-chip antenna is difficult because the probe-based measurement is easily influenced by the coupling and interference effects from the integrated circuits and the probe itself. In this paper, the measurement of a monopole on-chip antenna is reported. Then the reasons for the discrepancies in return loss and radiation pattern measurements are analyzed through modified simulation model. Furthermore, we characterize the probe self-radiation pattern and then propose the method of covering the probe with an absorber to improve the measurement accuracy.