Novel five-patch compact microstrip Yagi-alike antenna for Ka-band applications

This paper discusses the process of designing and fabricating a novel compact microstrip patch Yagi-like antenna having five-patch radiating element at operating frequency 31 GHz with a bandwidth of 1 GHz. The developed design aims to optimize the antenna performance. The overall dimension of the antenna being 17× 14 × 0.8 mm<sup>3</sup>, based on RT Duroid 5880 substrate having dielectric loss tangent of 0.0009 and relative permittivity 2.2. The effectiveness of the performance of proposed design was evaluated using the electromagnetic solver Ansoft high-frequency structure simulator (HFSS) and validated by the laboratory measurements on the antenna prototype. The measured results are consistent with the simulation prediction. The designed antenna achieved directional radiation and the performances with voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) < 1.32, return loss -17 dB and gain of 6 dBi. The measured results are compared with those existing in literature. The proposed antenna design has proven very effective in terms of the intended design and parameters which make it suitable for satellite application and wireless communication.