A novel metamaterial-based antenna for on-chip applications for the 72.5-81 GHz frequency range

In this paper we present a novel metamaterial-based antenna simulated using HFSS. The unit cell parameters were extracted using periodic boundary conditions and wave-port excitation. The metamaterial is magnetically coupled to the CPW line, the induced current in the hexagonal ring gives rise to a field perpendicular to the incident one. The antenna can be modeled by an LC circuit. This design achieves a significant impedance bandwidth of 8.47 GHz (S₁₁ = - 10 dB from 72.56 GHz to 81.03 GHz), and a minimum return loss of - 40.79 dB at 76.89 GHz, which clearly indicates good impedance matching to 50Ω. The proposed antenna offers gains from 4.53 to 5.25 dBi, with radiation efficiencies better than 74%. Compactness, simple design layout, a novel design, and good radiation characteristics for this antenna are the main contributions of this work. The antenna can be built on top of a 300 µm thick silicon wafer, for application on HR-SOI-CMOS technology. When compared to other antenna designs for the same frequency band, the proposed antenna achieves very good performance. This design is suitable for the reception stage of long-range automobile radar systems, due to its wide HPBW, as well as E-band applications, such as backhaul systems.