Dual Complementary Source Magneto-Electric Dipole Antenna Loaded With Split Ring Resonators

Abstract

In this paper, a magneto-electric (ME) dipole antenna excited by two slots through a printed ridge gap waveguide (PRGW) is presented. This antenna, which operates in the Ka-band, is considered as a dual complementary source (DCS), and exhibits a higher gain and a wider impedance bandwidth, compared to conventional ME dipoles. The proposed antenna has an impedance matching bandwidth with |S₁₁| <; -10 dB from 24.5 to 40 GHz with a stable gain of 10±1 dBi over the 25-35 GHz band. Moreover, by integrating horizontally three layers, each with an array of 4 × 10 split-ring resonator (SRR) unit cells on top of the DCS-ME dipole antenna, the realized gain is increased while maintaining the impedance bandwidth of the antenna. The antenna was fabricated and measured to confirm the simulation results. The fabricated prototype has a size of 1.1 × 1 × 0.58 λ³ (at 30 GHz) and exhibits a measured impedance bandwidth in excess of 50%, from 24 to 40 GHz, a maximum measured gain of 14.2 dBi at 35 GHz, and a measured radiation efficiency of 93% at 30 GHz.