Long Slot Dielectric-Loaded Periodic Leaky-Wave Antenna Based on 3D Printing Technology

Abstract

Substrate integrated waveguides (SIW) technology is employed to design a uniform long slot leaky-wave antenna (LWA) in millimeter-wave (mmWave) band. The structure is then loaded by a 3D printed sinusoidal periodic pattern of Photopolymer VeroClear dielectric. This makes a periodic LWA which means that it is possible to regulate a desired higher order space harmonic to form the beam and to tilt it to the direction of interest. To showcase the practicality of method, the dielectric pattern is designed in such a way that the beam is tilted to the backward-quadrant at θm = −15 • at f = 35 GHz. The structure is fabricated and the S-parameters are measured which shows a good agreement with the simulated results.