Single-Layer Interconnected Magneto-Electric Dipole Antenna Array for 5G Communication Applications

Abstract

A high-gain and wideband interconnected magneto-electric (ME) dipole on a single-layer PCB substrate is designed for 5G communication applications. Microstrip lines and coplanar striplines (CPSs) serve as transmission lines to connect the ME dipole elements along the E-plane and the H-plane directions, respectively. Impedance matching and sidelobe-level suppression are the key challenges to design a large-scale interconnected ME dipole antenna array. It is shown that impedance matching can be improved by introducing slots and adjusting the width of microstrip lines. Sidelobe level can be enhanced by properly choosing the length of the microstrip lines. A 5 × 5 interconnected ME dipole array is fabricated on a single layer of the RT/duroid 5880 substrate. The proposed antenna exhibits a measured −10 dB impedance bandwidth of 14.5 GHz (52% at 28 GHz) and a maximal peak realized gain of 20.44 dBi at 27.5 GHz with a 3 dB gain bandwidth of 3.5 GHz (12.5% at 28 GHz). The proposed antenna array is a good candidate for 5G communication applications due to its advantages of simple feeding structure, wide bandwidth, high gain, and low profile.