International Conference on Innovative Advancement in Engineering and Technology (IAET-2020)

Embedded Rectangular Dielectric Resonator Antenna for Ku-

Band Applications
Sovan Mohantya, Alina Khanb,Baibaswata Mohapatrac
a
Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, SRMS College of Engineering and Technology, Bareilly, U.P., India.
[email protected]
b
Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, SRMS College of Engineering and Technology, Bareilly, U.P., India.
[email protected]
c
School of Electrical, Electronics and Communication Engineering, Galgotias University, Greater Noida, U.P., India,
[email protected]

ABSTRACT

In this paper an Embedded Dielectric Resonator Antenna (EDRA) excited by a micro-strip line is designed and investigated. This
novel design consists of a 50×50 mm2 substrate with permittivity ࢿ࢙ equals to 4.5 (Roger TMM 4 ™). Main radiating structure is made
up of Roger RT Duroid 6010/6010 LM (tm), permittivity ࢿ࢘ = 10.2 and loss tangent of 0.0025 having dimension૙. ૛૚ࣅ × ૙. ૠ૜ࣅ ×
૙. ૞ૠࣅ at 12.4 GHz. The proposed antenna has radiation efficiency of 90.51% with peak gain of 6 dB at 11 GHz. This antenna shows
maximum return loss of 33.03 dB at 12.48 GHz with stable impedance bandwidth of 12.98%. This proposed antenna is suitable for
vehicular radar system, imaging and modern wireless communication system.

Keywords:Dielectric Resonator Antenna (DRA), Dielectric Wave Guide Model (DWM).

1. INTRODUCTION

Microwave and millimeter wave technology have undergone a tremendous shift in the last decade in quest for high speed, ultra-high
gain, relative wide bandwidth, polarization purity and miniaturized structure. Earlier Microwave and Milli-meter wave technology were
confined to defense and military based applications. But currently these technologies are the front runner in wireless communications
such as 5G, high speed computation and other industrial, scientific and medical applications. Two major resources of communication are
bandwidth and power. In order to achieve high bandwidth, frequency of operation has to be increased [1]. The high frequency design and
circuit analysis can be characterized by wave phenomenon [2]. Designing of high frequency circuit is quite challenging due to non-
linearity, non-homogeneous and distributed parametric behavior [3-5]. The major problem at high frequency occurs due to variation in
phase velocity which contributes profoundly in the generation of degenerated modes and dispersion [6]. Thus parametric analysis
becomes much more difficult at high frequency domain for a micro-strip patch antenna. Thus dielectric resonator antenna is an ultimate
choice. It offers low dielectric loss, conductor loss and radiation loss with desired polarization purity. The radiation characteristics of the
antenna and bandwidth can be controlled by high dielectric constant, aspect ratio and geometry of the antenna. Radiation Q-factor is
responsible for calculating the bandwidth of operation of DRA [7].In this paper a wide band antenna is designed by using a suitable
matching network and lowering the inherent Q-factor of the main resonator. Bandwidth is usually described in terms of input
characteristics like impedance and output characteristics like gain, directivity, side lobe level and cross polarization level etc. This
antenna can operate from 12.22 GHz to 13.80 GHz with -10 dB impedance bandwidth of 12.98%. It shows minimum return loss of 33
dB at 12.48 GHz.

Fig. 1: The structure of the proposed antenna. Fig. 2: Side view of the proposed antenna.

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Fig. 3: Top view and geometry of the proposed antenna.

2. ANTENNA STRUCTURE

The structure of proposed geometry is shown in Fig. 1, 2 & 3. This antenna is a dielectric resonator with dimension of a=4.94 mm,
b=17.5 mm, d=13.7 mm and ࢿ࢘ = 10.2. Roger RT Duroid 6010/6010 LM (tm) is placed on a substrate Roger TMM 4 ™ of size 50×50
mm2. Back side of the substrate is printed with perfect electrical conductor which is acting as an infinite ground plane. The resonator is
fed by 2 mm thick transmission line which is connected to the source through a matching stub of dimension of 3×8 mm2. A notch of
4.94×3×9 mm2 is placed within the DRA to reduce the Q-factor and to enhance the matching profile so as to increase the radiation
efficiency. Notch provides the air gap which reduces the effective dielectric constant and thereby there is shift in the resonant frequency
[8].

Table 1 – Details Geometry & Material of the DRA

Structure Length Width Height Permittivity Material tan δ

Substrate 50 mm 50 mm 1.6 mm 4.5 Roger TMM 4 tm 0.003

DRA 17.5 mm 4.94 mm 13.7 mm 10.2 Roger RT Duroid 0.002
6010/6010 LM (tm)

3. PRINCIPLE OF OPERATIONS

Dielectric with an infinite ground plane is basically a narrow band structure. Bandwidth can be enhanced by reducing the Q-factor of the
radiating structure, by suitable matching networks and combining multiple antenna structure. The operational bandwidth can be
improved by suitably placing a rectangular notch over the micro-strip transmission line. The lowering of the Q-factor is achieved by
removing the central portion of the antenna. This rectangular notch will act as an impedance transformer to adjust the matching profile
such that dual band, multi band and wide band structure can be obtained [9]. Due to the presence of air within the notch it is difficult to
configure exact structure of the notch to achieve desired matching. Here aspect ratio is playing a distinctive role to improve the
bandwidth. The Q-factor of the antenna is related to the unloaded Q-factor of the excited resonant mode. A general equation which
relates unloaded Q to its fundamental geometry of the antenna is based on geometrical features [10]. When ઽ‫ ܚ‬increases along with
increase in Q-factor which in turn reduces the impedance bandwidth. The shape of the resonator will reduce this effect of ઽ‫ ܚ‬while
keeping the size of the antenna low. Rectangular DRA with tile structure has wider bandwidth than a dielectric cube having same
resonant frequency [11]. The dimension of the RDRA is calculated based on the dielectric wave guide model and in this paper the DRA
is designed to operate at 12.4 GHz. The length, width and height of the DRA are calculated by using antenna design equation [3, 4] by
using Dielectric Wave Guide model (DWM) method, where F is the normalized frequency and W is the width of the DRA.

s
Sto red E n erg y  V o lum e 
Q = 2ω0 α 2 ω 0 ε rp   ,p > s ≥1 (1)
R a d ia ted E nerg y  S u rfa ce 

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 International Conference on Innovative Advancement in Engineering and Technology (IAET-2020)
2πWf0
F= εr (2)
c
(3)
15F
fGH Z =
W cm π εr

Fig.4: Plot of Return loss versus frequency. Fig. 5: Plot of VSWR versus frequency.

4. EXPERIMENTAL RESULT

The input and output characteristics of this design are determined from High Frequency Structure Simulator (HFSS) 14.0.Figure 4 shows
the simulated plot of return loss versus frequency. It is observed that this antenna operates from 12.22 GHz to 13.80 GHz with maximum
return loss of 33.03 dB at 12.48 GHz. Figure 5 indicates curve of VSWR with frequency. VSWR of less than 2 occurs within the
observed bandwidth.

Fig. 6: Smith Chart Fig. 7: E Plane and H Plane

Fig. 6 indicates the Smith chart which characterizes the input characteristics of the antenna. From the Smith chart it is observed that
resistive loading takes place exactly at the resonating frequency of 12.48 GHz. Fig. 7 indicates the E and H plane of the DRA along the
xz (ϕ = 0˚) & yz (ϕ = 90˚) plane at 12.4 GHz.

Fig. 8: Plot of Gain versus Frequency Fig. 9: Plot of 3-D Total Gain

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Fig. 10: E-plane co and cross polarization (10 dB/div) Fig. 11: H-plane co and cross polarization (10dB/div)

Fig.8 indicates the plot of gain versus frequency at θ = 44˚ and 134˚ keeping ϕ= 180˚. In the above plot black line indicates maximum
gain at θ = 44˚ and ϕ= 180˚ .This antenna provides maximum gain of 6 dB at 11 GHz. Fig. 10 shows the plot of total gain in 3
dimensional axes. The far field pattern of the DRA is computed by employing Finite Element Method [12]. Fig. 10 and 11 show E and
H-plane co and cross polarization of the designed antenna. It is observed that the difference between co and cross polarization is more
than 17 dB along elevation plane 44˚ and 134˚. Fig. 12 indicates the output radiated E & H field of the proposed antenna. Fig. 13
indicates the surface current density in A/m2 along the 2-D surface. Maxima and minima are separated by a distance of λ/4 along the
micro-strip line. The spatial length of the transmission line decides the coupling efficiency of the energy from the source to the radiating
structure. The slot within the dielectric is responsible for effective impedance matching and to enhance overall impedance bandwidth of
the radiating structure. It also affects on the stabilized output characteristics such as gain and directivity of the antenna.

Fig.
Fig. 12: Radiation pattern indicating E field (V/m) and H field (A/m) Fig. 13: Surface Current Density (A/m2)

Conclusion
A novel wideband low-profile embedded rectangular dielectric resonator antenna for Ku band has been proposed. The simulated results
show that proposed antenna provides wide band response with high radiation efficiency. Further enhancement in gain of this low profile
design can be achieved by converting this structure into suitable array geometry. This proposed antenna is potentially a suitable
candidates for vehicular radar system, imaging and modern wireless communication system.

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 International Conference on Innovative Advancement in Engineering and Technology (IAET-2020)
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