A compact high‐gain slot antenna array with a bidirectional broadside radiation pattern

Abstract

A novel bidirectional broadside slot antenna array is proposed in this letter. The outstanding merits of this antenna array lie in the minimum width and the highest gain‐to‐area ratio (G/A) compared to previous works. The ingenious combination of the radiation mode and the transmission mode of slots is adopted, eliminating the design of the feed network. Thus, a simple and compact configuration is obtained. Moreover, two metal plates are added vertically at the sides of the slot array, with a more homogeneous radiation aperture and a higher G/A. With the 3D structure, a compact volume of the antenna array is ensured. For performance evaluation, our proof‐of‐concept design is fabricated with a cuboid dimension of 1.94λ0 × 0.12λ0 × 0.12λ0, where λ0 denotes the wavelength in free space at the centre frequency. An impedance bandwidth of 2.38 to 2.49 GHz is achieved, with a maximum gain of 9.7 dBi and a higher G/A of 39.5. The advantages including compact size and high G/A are paving the path for the potential application of communications in long and narrow spaces.