A Novel Snowflake Fractal Antenna for Dual-Beam Applications in 28 GHz Band

A wideband snowflake antenna for 28 GHz millimeter-wave communications is proposed. The antenna has a size of 8×5 mm
²
, fabricated on ultra-thin 0.254 mm substrate. The antenna consists of four small hexagons surrounding a bigger hexagon in order to attain broadband characteristics. Bandwidth response of the antenna is between 25.28-29.04 GHz (13.43% @ 28 GHz), having 3.12 dBi gain and more than 80% of radiation as well as total efficiency. The antenna specific structure is designed such that it gives dual beam over its entire bandwidth without a noticeable shift in its beam directions. For enhanced gain performance, its 4-element array (of size 32×12 mm
²
) has been fabricated separately to increase its gain upto 10.12 dBi at 28 GHz. The proposed dual-beam antenna and its array has been modelled on thin Rogers substrate to show that its application in millimeter-wave communication equipment is viable.