On-Chip Dielectric Resonator Antenna on Silicon Carbide Substrate for Extreme Environments

Abstract

We present the design, fabrication, and high-temperature measurement of a highly efficient (91.5%) on-chip dielectric resonator antenna (DRA) on silicon carbide (SiC). The simulations were validated through measurements of return loss and peak gain up to 400 <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$^{\circ }$</tex-math></inline-formula>C, along with radiation pattern measurements up to 300 <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$^{\circ }$</tex-math></inline-formula>C, marking this study as the first high temperature radiation pattern measurement of a GSG probed SiC based on-chip antenna. We report a sapphire resonator coupled to a slot on a 4H-SiC substrate, fed using a grounded coplanar waveguide (GCPW), and impedance matched by a series stub inductor. The DRA operates in the fundamental TE<sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">111</sub> mode for broadside radiation at 28.8–30.6 GHz. We implement edge corrugations, significantly enhancing efficiency by suppressing surface waves and beam shaping to achieve a higher gain. The proposed antenna was fabricated in-house and measured using a modified probe station and a robot arm. The simulated gain and peak total efficiency of 8.52 dBi and 91.5%, respectively, agree with the measured values of 8.47 dBi and 90.5%. The antenna is demonstrated to have a stable reflection coefficient and radiation pattern up to 300 <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$^{\circ }$</tex-math></inline-formula>C with less than 0.5 dBi reduction in peak gain.