Active Ka-band Open-Ended Waveguide Antenna with Built-in IC Cooling for Use in Large Arrays

This paper presents the design of an open-ended waveguide (OEWG) array element operating between 34 GHz and 36 GHz. The OEWG is coupled to a quarter-wave patch antenna on a PCB, which connects to a millimeter-wave IC via a grounded co-planar waveguide. The radiating element is co-designed with an integrated liquid cooling solution to remove heat from the amplifier and phase-shifting IC. Furthermore, a 4×4 array is presented to demonstrate the OEWG design, feed and cooling operation. Although PCB manufacturing deviations were observed in the demonstrator, the realized elements are expected to operate over the entire desired frequency range.