60 GHz wideband LTCC microstrip patch antenna array with parasitic surrounding stacked patches

Abstract

This work presents a wideband 60 GHz microstrip patch antenna (MPA) array based on low-temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC) multilayer technology. Four parasitic patches are stacked above the driven MPA. An additional resonant mode is excited by the proposed parasitic surrounding stacked patches (PSSPs) to enhance the bandwidth of the MPA. The structure of the PSSPs increases the gain of the MPA due to its array configuration. The proposed PSSP structure can find many applications in designs for large-scale antenna arrays because the PSSPs and the driven microstrip patch are distributed at different layers. This arrangement allows a direct feed network to the MPA without the blockage caused by the PSSPs. A 2 × 2 antenna array was designed and fabricated with the PSSPs to further increase its gain. The proposed array can achieve a gain of 10.5 dBi and a wide bandwidth of 27.3% at 60 GHz.