Dielectric Resonator Array Fed by Slot Ridge-gap Waveguide Cavity for Millimeter

Wave Applications
Mohamed A. Asal1, Shaymaa.M.gaber, Saber H. Zainud-Deen2, and Hend Malhat3*
1
Faculty of Engineering, Egyptian Russian University, ERU, Egypt, mohamed-asal@eru.edu.eg
2
Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Badr University in Cairo, BUC, Egypt
3
Faculty of Electronic Engineering, Menoufia University, Egypt, er_honida1@yahoo.com*

ABSTRACT
This paper investigates the radiation characteristics of dielectric resonator antenna (DRA) array using the ridge-gap
waveguide technology for millimeter wave applications at 60 GHz. The array element consists of rectangular DRA mounted
on ground plane with coupling slot. The signal is excited through a single rectangular slot in ridge-gap waveguide cavity.
Different array arrangements are investigated for gain and bandwidth improvement. Each array geometry has compact size of
23.04×22.27×5.88 mm3 for 60 GHz applications. 1×3 linear array, two crossed 1×3 arrays, and 3×3 array arrangements are
investigated. These arrangements have a single excitation slot and a number of coupling slots equals to the DRA elements. A
peak gain of 11.3dBi, 12.9 dBi, and 16 dBi are achieved for different array arrangements. The proposed structures are full-
wave simulated using the finite integral technique (FIT).

Keywords: DRA, Ridge-gap waveguide, slot and Antenna arrays.

I. INTRODUCTION
Recently, modern wireless communications systems require high-gain, compact size and easily integrated
antennas to meet their emerging services [1]. Dielectric resonator antennas (DRAs) have been used in different
millimeter-wave frequencies applications [2]. DRAs are employed in mobile systems, radio-frequency
identification (RFID), WiFi and satellite communications [3]. Conventional DRA consists of high dielectric
constant ceramic materials with low-loss mounted on conductor ground plane. It is designed with different shapes
and sizes, as cylindrical, rectangular, hemispherical, …etc. DRAs offer many advantages over conventional
microstrip antennas such as high radiation efficiency, wide bandwidth, light-weight, and ease of integration with
other active or passive components [4]. To achieve higher gain, an array consists of a number of DRA elements is
introduced in literature [2]. The ridge-gap waveguide technology is based on controlling the propagation of the
electromagnetic waves (EMW) by using perfect electric conductor (PEC) and perfect magnetic conductor (PMC)
boundaries. The arrangement of PEC/PEC and PEC/PMC surfaces boundaries control the EMW energy flow
through it [5]. The PMC surfaces are constructed using nails, or mushrooms [6]. The nails are the preferred for
PMC surface. It consists of metallic pins arranged periodically [7]. In [8], a dog-bone DRA fed by mushroom-
type ridge-gap waveguide transmission line is designed for 60 GHz applications. In [9] slot array fed by ridge-gap
waveguide cavity slot is designed for high gain of 16 dBi.

In this paper, a slot coupled DRA fed by ridge-gap waveguide slot cavity is designed and tested at 60
GHz. The dimensions of a single DRA element are optimized and introduced. Different array geometries are
investigated on the same area of a single element. The effect of DRA array configurations on the radiation
characteristics are studied. The FIT is used to design and analyze the radiation characteristics of the proposed
DRA arrays configurations.

II. DESIGN OF SINGLE DRA ELEMENT

Figure 1 shows the detailed structure of the proposed slot coupled DRA fed by ridge-gap waveguide slot cavity.
The antenna consists of rectangular DRA has width W=4.2mm, length L=1.12 λo, height H=0.4 λo and dielectric
constant εr=10.2. The DRA is coupled to rectangular slot of Ls1×Ws1 = λo×0.36λo etched in square upper ground
plane with side-length LG. A lower ground plane with feeding slot of Ls2×Ws2= λo×0.36λo is connected with two
rows of metallic nails with periodicity of 0.25. Each metallic nail has dimensions.0.106 λo×0.106 λo ×0.32 λo. An
 air-gap of 0.052 λo is located between the upper ground plane and the metallic nails connected with the lower
ground plane. The configuration of the metallic nails, upper ground plane and lower ground plane form a ridge-
gap waveguide structure. A standard waveguide port excites a signal in the centre of the lower ground plane. The
EMW is propagated and is coupled to the DRA through the slot etched in the upper ground plane where PEC/PEC
boundaries are applied. However, in the area of the ridge-gap waveguide the PEC/PMC boundaries exists and the
EMW is stopped. The overall size of the single DRA antenna element is 4.61 λo ×4.45 λo ×1.18 λo in the 60 GHz
frequency band. A full-wave simulation of the single DRA element is calculated using the finite-integral
technique (FIT). The results are compared with that obtained by the finite element method (FEM). Figure 2 shows
simulated reflection coefficient and gain variation against frequency. Good impedance matching of -29.2 dB
occurs at 60 GHz with bandwidth (BW for S11<-10 dB) of 1.6GHz (from 59.24GHz to 60.84GHz). The ground
plane reflects most of the EMW energy in the broadside direction and results in a stable gain variation from 9.5
dBi to 11.2 dBi over the matching bandwidth. The 3D gain pattern at 60 GHz is shown in Fig. 3. Broadside
radiation pattern is obtained with peak gain of 11.3 dBi, half-power beam-width (HPBW) of 54.4o. High front-to-
back ratio (FBR) of 25 dB is noticed due to the elimination of EMW leakage from the ridge-gap waveguide
structure. Figure 4 shows the frequency responses of the reflection coefficient and gain for different positions of
the feeding slot. Good impedance matching and wide impedance bandwidth occur at d=0 (center of the plate). The
effect of the ridge gap construction on the reflection coefficient and gain of the DRA element is depicted in Fig.5.

H DRA (εr=10.2)

W L Upper ground plane with

Hm
coupling slot

Ws1 Ls1
Metallic nails
Tuning pins

Lower ground plane with

feeding slot
z
Ws2 Ls2

LG LG y
x

a. b.
Fig. 1.a. 3D view, b. The detailed geometry of single element slot coupled DRA fed by single slot ridge-gap
waveguide cavity.
Reflection coefficient (dB)

Frequancy (GHz)
Frequancy (GHz) 19 19.2 19.4 19.6 19.8 20
19 19.2 19.4 19.6 19.8 20
0
0

5
5
data2
) Bd( niaG

data2
FIT FIT
)Bd( niaG

10 data1 10 data1
FEM
FEM

15 15

20 a. The reflection coefficient b. Gain

Fig. 2. The reflection coefficien and gain of single 20
element slot coupled DRA fed by ridge-gap waveguide cavity.
 Fig. 3. The 3D gain pattern of single element slot coupled DRA fed by ridge-gap waveguide cavity.
Reflection coefficient (dB)

a. The reflection coefficient b. Gain

Fig. 4. The reflection coefficient and gain of single element slot coupled DRA fed by ridge-gap waveguide cavity
for different positions of the feeding slot.
Reflection coefficient (dB)

a. The reflection coefficient b. Gain

Fig. 5. The reflection coefficient and gain of single element slot coupled DRA fed with and without ridge-gap
waveguide cavity.
III. DESIGN OF DRA ARRAYS WITH DIFFERENT ELEMENT
Different DRA array arrangements fed by a single slot in a ridge-gap cavity for gain improvement are designed.
Figure 6 shows linear array arrangement with 1×3 DRA elements coupled to 1×3 slots arranged along the y-axis.
The separation distance, S= 1.7mm, between the DRA elements is optimized for wide BW and high gain. The
radiation characteristics of the 1×3 DRA elements arrangement are shown in Fig. 7. The matching BW is 1.64
GHz (extended from 59.71GHz to 61.35 GHz). The gain is increased to 12.9 dBi at 60 GHz with 1.5 dB
variations over the matching band. The 3D gain pattern at 60 GHz is shown in Fig. 7c and has a wide HPBW of
53.5o in the y-z plane and narrow HPBW of 22.7o in x-z plane.

S
1×3 DRA (εr=10.2)

Upper ground plane with 1×3

coupling slot

Metallic nails
Tuning pins
Lower ground plane with feeding
z
slot

x y

Fig. 6. The detailed geometry of 1×3 elements slot coupled DRA fed by single slot ridge-gap waveguide cavity.
Reflection coefficient (dB)

a. The reflection coefficient b. Gain

 c. 3D gain at 60 GHz
Fig. 7. The radiation charactertics of 1×3 elements slot coupled DRA fed by single slot ridge-gap waveguide
cavity.

Figure 8 shows two rows of DRA elements in a crossed arrangement. Each DRA element is coupled through a
rectangular slot beneath it. The elements are fed using single slot in ridge-gap waveguide cavity. The impedance
matching is degraded to -17 dB and the BW cover the frequency band from 59.15 GHz to 61 GHz as shown in
Fig. 9a. The gain is improved to 12.9 dBi and has stable response over the frequency band of the array as noticed
from Fig. 9b. The 3D gain has broadside radiation with peak value of 12.9 dBi, HPBW of 19.6 o, and high FBR of
22 dB as shown in Fig. 9c.
S
1×3 crossed DRA (εr=10.2)
Upper ground plane with 1×3 plus
coupling slot

Metallic nails
Tuning pins
Lower ground plane with feeding
z
slot

x y

Fig. 8. The detailed geometry of 1×3 crossed elements slot coupled DRA fed by single slot ridge-gap waveguide
cavity.
 Reflection coefficient (dB)

a. The reflection coefficient b. Gain

c. 3D gain at 60 GHz
Fig. 9. The radiation charactertics of 1×3 crossed elements slot coupled DRA fed by single slot ridge-gap
waveguide cavity.

A square array of 3×3 DRA elements coupled to 3×3 slots with the single slot feeding cavity is shown in Fig.
10. The reflection coefficient versus frequency is plotted in Fig.11a. The frequency band is shifted up to higher
frequencies from 59.73 GHz to 61.59 GHz with matching of -15 dB. Figure 11b shows the enhanced gain
variation from 12 dBi to 16 dBi over the frequency band. The broadside 3D gain pattern in Fig. 11c shows peak
gain of 16 dBi.
S
S
3 plus DRA (εr=10.2)
Upper ground plane with 3×3 plus
coupling slot

Metallic nails
Tuning pins
Lower ground plane with feeding slot
z

x y

Fig. 10. The detailed geometry of 3×3 elements slot coupled DRA fed by single slot ridge-gap waveguide cavity.
 Reflection coefficient (dB)

a. The reflection coefficient b. Gain

c. 3D gain at 60 GHz
Fig. 11. The radiation charactertics of 3×3 elements slot coupled DRA fed by single slot ridge-gap waveguide
cavity.

IV. CONCLUSION
Different DRA array geometries using a single feed is introduced in this paper. The ridge-gap waveguide
technology is used to direct the EMW propagation through the proposed structures. Single, three, five and nine
DRA elements are investigated on the same area and with single feeding slot. The single DRA introduces BW of
1.6 GHz with high gain of 9.5 dBi and broadside radiation. Three DRA elements arranged in 1×3 linear array
placed on the same area of the single element. The BW is increased to 1.64 GHz and the gain is increased to 12.9
dBi at 60 GHz with 1.5 dB variation over the matching band. The 3×3 DRA are coupled with 9 coupling slots on
the same area. The gain is enhanced up to 16 dBi with improved performance.

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