Dielectric Rod Antenna for Glass-Packaged Radar Sensors at G-band

A wideband and robust design of a dielectric rod antenna at G-band (140 GHz–220 GHz) for short range radar applications in harsh environmental conditions is presented. The proposed antenna is based on a simple plug-in solution made of PEEK material (εr,PEEK =3.2), which enables the mechanically detachable integration into a glass-encapsulated millimeter wave radar sensor system. To further increase the antenna gain, an optically transparent biconvex lens is presented. The antenna performance has been investigated by full wave simulations and validated through measurements of the fabricated antenna prototype. The experimental results of the realized antenna element show excellent agreement to the simulated values. The rod antenna covers a 3 dB-beam width of 46° and achieves a maximum gain of 12.4 dBi. The additional use of the dielectric lens increases the gain to 30.4 dBi with a stable beam pattern over the entire modulation bandwidth of 20 GHz of the radar sensor. The measured 3D-radiation patterns at various frequencies across the operational band are provided.
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