V-Band End-Fire Radiating Planar Micromachined Helical Antenna Using Through-Glass Silicon Via (TGSV) Technology

Abstract

In this paper, we demonstrate a V-band planar micromachined helical antenna (PHA) with end-fire radiation on the glass substrate. The planar rectangular helical configuration is realized using the novel through-glass silicon via (TGSV) technology. The proposed micromachined antenna is designed and fabricated on a borosilicate glass substrate of thickness 350 µm, which has a very low-dielectric loss compared to silicon at millimeter-wave bands. The proposed PHA is fed by a microstrip line, and the planar helical configuration with 3.25 turns with a truncated ground plane is designed for achieving wideband end-fire radiation with seven tungsten-coated silicon vias and six connected gold arm patterns, which are fabricated using the TGSV technology. The electrical length of the proposed antenna is (3 λ o ×1.4 λ o). The designed antenna operates at the center frequency of 58 GHz. A prototype of the proposed antenna is fabricated by micromachining technology and tested. The simulated and measured results show that the proposed antenna has a wide operational bandwidth of 50.3 to 65 GHz for |S 11 | < −10 dB with a fractional bandwidth (FBW) of 25.5%. The measured peak gain is 6.3 dBi, and measured efficiency is 62% at the center frequency of 58 GHz. All measurements are in close agreement with simulated results. The proposed planar helical antenna with end-fire radiation is useful for applications in traveling-wave-tubes operating in millimeter-wave and higher frequencies, millimeter-wave on-board wireless communication, radar imaging, and tracking applications. INDEX TERMS Borosilicate-glass, end-fire, planar helical antenna, through glass silicon via (TGSV), travelling-wave-tubes (TWTs).

A Compact Wideband 24 GHZ End-Fire Helix Antenna With High Gain Turn Ratio in Planar Technology

“…Table 1 gives a comparison of this work with state of the art. Antennas in [2,4] require additional reflective plane; therefore, their compactness is low, while antennas of [3,[5][6][7][8] and in this work include reflective plane in PCB design, and compactness is high. Thicknesses of all antennas in [3][4][5][6][7][8] are much less than quarter wavelength; thickness of the antenna in [2] is comparable with quarter wavelength, but it is very uncompact in both PCB design and reflective plane design.…”

“…Antennas in [2,4] require additional reflective plane; therefore, their compactness is low, while antennas of [3,[5][6][7][8] and in this work include reflective plane in PCB design, and compactness is high. Thicknesses of all antennas in [3][4][5][6][7][8] are much less than quarter wavelength; thickness of the antenna in [2] is comparable with quarter wavelength, but it is very uncompact in both PCB design and reflective plane design. Compared with the works in [2][3][4][5][6][7][8], the antenna in this work only requires 2.25 turns to achieve a gain of 9.3 dBi, because it adopts a thickness which is close to quarter wavelength.…”

“…Thicknesses of all antennas in [3][4][5][6][7][8] are much less than quarter wavelength; thickness of the antenna in [2] is comparable with quarter wavelength, but it is very uncompact in both PCB design and reflective plane design. Compared with the works in [2][3][4][5][6][7][8], the antenna in this work only requires 2.25 turns to achieve a gain of 9.3 dBi, because it adopts a thickness which is close to quarter wavelength. Therefore due to its mimicking original helix antenna, antenna topology in this work could achieve higher gain with fewer turns.…”

“…In [6], an 8-turn planar helix antenna at 9.75 GHz with gain of 8.5 dB is demonstrated. In [7], fabricated in borosilicate glass substrate with a thickness of 350 µm, a 3.25-turn planar helix antenna at 58 GHz with gain of 6.3 dB is presented. In [8], a 15-turn planar helix antenna at 4 GHz with gain of 7.6 dB is presented in Roger 4003C technology.…”

Via-Monopole Based Quasi Yagi-Uda Antenna for W-Band Applications using Through Glass Silicon via (TGSV) Technology

“…Our previous work proposed a planar helical antenna [8] fabricated using TGSV technology based on deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) of silicon, selective metal coating, and glass reflow, which is similar to the process developed in our group [36]. In the previous case, a single silicon DRIE process was sufficient to fabricate TGSVs since all TGSV heights were the same as the substrate thickness.…”