A compact, universal and cost-efficient antenna setup for mmW-radar applications

Abstract

A compact antenna setup, that can be used for e.g. radar applications, will be presented in this paper. The antenna is formed by an antipodal Vivaldi design on a 50 μm thin liquid crystal polymer (LCP) substrate. The feeding line is designed as grounded coplanar waveguide (GCPW). In the direction of radiation, the antenna is followed by a dielectric cone of high-density polyethylene (HDPE), whereby the front of the cone terminates in a radial lens shape for beamforming purposes. The presented setup is designed and built for W-band (75 to 110 GHz) operation, the concept itself can also be used for any other frequency range. Performance measurements, as well as comparisons with previous simulation results will be presented.