A Compact Single‐Conductor Endfire Antenna With High Gain and Easy Assembly

• Published in: Microwave and optical technology letters 2024-12, Vol.66 (12), p.n/a
• Main Authors: Wang, Shixuan, Teng, Xihui, Jin, Peiqi, Hou, Yuefeng
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: air‐substrate; Antenna design; Antenna radiation patterns; Antennas; Assembly; Conductors; Electric fields; endfire antenna; Energy distribution; High gain; Radiation; single conductor
• ISSN: 0895-2477; 1098-2760
• DOI: 10.1002/mop.70067

ABSTRACT This letter proposes a compact air‐substrate single conductor endfire antenna, characterized by stable endfire radiation, high gain, high gain‐to‐length ratio and easy assembly. The proposed antenna is fed by air‐substrate double‐sided parallel strip lines (DSPSLs) in the TEM mode, ensuring stable endfire radiation pattern. Evolved from the periodic leaky‐wave antenna design, it also achieves high gain. Moreever, the radiating elements can couple energy through two paths, achieving an almost uniform electric field distribution, which contributes to a high gain‐to‐length ratio. Notably, a single‐conductor structure is achieved by terminating the short‐circuited DSPSLs, which simplifies the assembly process and minimizes manufacturing complexity. Finally, the proposed compact single‐conductor antenna is simulated, fabricated, and measured. The proposed endfire antenna features a compact size of 1.90λ0 × 0.42λ0 × 0.05λ0 operating at the center frequency of 5.00 GHz, where λ0 denotes the free‐space wavelength. According to the measurement results, the antenna also achieves a high gain of 11.37 dBi and a high gain‐to‐length ratio of 7.21, exhibiting a wide 1‐dB gain bandwidth of 4.00–5.30 GHz. These features make the antenna well‐suited for diverse long‐distance communication applications.