A wideband microstrip antenna employing ring and hexadecagonal slots with parasitic elements for W-band applications

This article presents a monopole patch antenna, designed for operation in the W-band. The antenna is constructed on Rogers/RT 5880 dielectric material with dimensions of 3.4×4×0.16 mm³, a loss tangent of 0.0009, and a relative permittivity of 2.2. The initial design features a simple rectangular patch measuring 1.3542×1.0306 mm², powered by a microstrip line using an inset feed. To enhance the bandwidth and gain, two parasitic rectangular elements were added on both sides of the patch in addition to the incorporation of a circular ring slot with the ground plane. Further improvements in bandwidth and return loss were achieved by etching a hexadecagonal-shaped slot on the patch. Simulation results indicate that the optimized design achieves an impedance bandwidth of 28.54 GHz, ranging from 79.67 GHz to 108.21 GHz, centered at 88 GHz. The antenna also shows a maximum return loss of 59 dB and a voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) of 1.0022. The radiation pattern is directional, with a peak gain of approximately 8.57 dBi, and a maximum directivity of about 8.6 dB, as predicted by the computer simulation technology (CST) frequency-domain solver. These advantageous characteristics make the proposed antenna a suitable choice for point-to-point transmission applications.