Enhancing Exposure Efficiency and Uniformity Using a Choke Ring Antenna: Application to Bioelectromagnetic Studies at 60 GHz

Abstract

An effective solution for increasing the exposure uniformity and efficiency of biological samples in in vitro bioelectromagnetic experiments at 60 GHz is proposed by introducing a novel choke ring antenna (CRA). The CRA is optimized to provide a uniform exposure of samples, whose dimensions are equivalent to those of a standard 35-mm Petri dish, positioned close to the antenna aperture, i.e., 10–20 wavelengths. The antenna prototype is fabricated in metallized foam. The realized exposure efficiency of the sample exceeds 55% (if estimated for an exposure uniformity better than ${-}$ 0.5 dB). To validate the numerical results, the field intensity profiles on the surface of a high-water-content phantom have been experimentally obtained using a high-resolution infrared camera. Compared to the standard open-ended waveguide and horn antennas, typically used for millimeter-wave dosimetry, a twofold advantage of the proposed CRA is demonstrated, namely, the improvement of the exposure efficiency by a factor of 1.5 to 2 with a simultaneous reduction of the exposure distance by a factor of 8–2, respectively, depending on the type of the reference antenna. These advantages make the proposed CRA an excellent candidate for 60-GHz short-range exposure systems for in vitro bioelectromagnetic studies.