Planar antenna arrays on LTCC-multilayer technology

This paper present the design and prototyping of different 24.125 GHz low temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC) aperture-coupled patch antenna arrays for ISM-band applications. Thorough analysis of material loss, gain and bandwidth shows the LTCC material to be well suited for realising antenna arrays up to the typical ceramic wafer size of about 15×15 cm² (6×6 in²). Some aspects of the prototyping process like the implementation of meshed ground planes and the realisation of integrated thick film resistors are discussed. Various measurements of far field patterns and gain are presented and found to be in good agreement with the simulation results. Finally, the measurement results of different antenna prototypes show very good reproducibility