Hollow Waveguide 32 x 32-Slot Array Antenna Covering 71-86 GHz Band by the Technology of a Polyetherimide Fabrication

This letter presents the design and the fabrication of a 32 x 32-element high-gain corporate-fed slot array antenna in the E-band. First of all, a 2 x 2 cavity-backed slots subarray is designed. Second, the subarray is extended to the whole array antenna by T-junction power dividers. In addition, a vertical transition from WR-12 to distribution network is also designed in order to excite the array antenna. For massive production in industry, the proposed antenna is manufactured in reality by utilizing chemical-plated polyetherimide. Then, the fabricated parts have been adjoined together by two thin layers of isotropic conductive adhesive. Finally, the fabricated antenna shows an impedance bandwidth of 20% with input reflection coefficient better than -12 dB and the aperture efficiency mostly larger than 60% with about 37 dBi realized gain between 71 and 86 GHz.