Design of broadband electromagnetically coupled planar antenna and array for 60 GHz millimeter wave applications

The millimeter wave frequency range is found suitable for 5G communications. The design of suitable antenna/array is required for this purpose. This article presents a broadband electromagnetically coupled modified microstrip patch antenna for millimeter wave communications at 60 GHz. The antenna structure is designed and optimized with the help of commercial electromagnetic simulation software. For accurate estimation of performance of the antenna before fabrication, the optimization is performed of the overall antenna module including the antenna, feed, microstrip to waveguide transition and metal fixture. The antenna module shows wide impedance bandwidth from 58.5 to 64 GHz and 6.8 dBi gain at 60 GHz. The prototype of the antenna module is fabricated and the measured results are compared with the simulated results. Next, studies are extended for designing a four element linear array using the proposed antenna as element and other modifications to improve the array directivity and side lobe performance. The array shows gain of around 11.8 dBi.