RADIOENGINEERING, VOL. 27, NO.

3, SEPTEMBER 2018 679

Aperture Coupled Dielectric Resonator Antenna

Embedded in a Secondary Substrate
for Mechanical Firmness
Suparna BALLAV, Susanta Kumar PARUI

Dept. of Electronics & Tele-comm. Engineering, Indian Institute of Science Engineering and Technology, Shibpur,
Howrah-711103, India

[email protected], [email protected]

Submitted February 15, 2018 / Accepted April 29, 2018

Abstract. An aperture coupled rectangular dielectric res- for design DRAs. Rectangular shapes of DRA are gener-
onator antenna (RDRA) is proposed where high permittiv- ally preferred over other basic shapes such as cylindrical or
ity radiating element is embedded on a comparatively low hemispherical due to their fabrication simplicity and addi-
permittivity secondary substrate material (here FR4 is tional degrees of freedom from designer aspect [1–3].
used). Proposed dielectric resonator antenna (DRA) is Again DRA supports different modes and each mode of
accurately excited in fundamental mode TE111 for efficient DRA has its unique electromagnetic field distributions and
broadside radiation. All the existing DRAs are placed on hence different modes of DRA need different boundary
ground plane using adhesive which is not suitable for conditions to be met [4–6]. As a consequence different
practical application. The proposed design can be consid- feeding mechanism has to be used for individual modes to
ered as a promising solution of mounting of DRA on the satisfy different boundary conditions. In literature several
ground plane with good mechanical firmness. Since the types of feeding mechanism for DRA are proposed, such as
RDRA is embedded on FR4 substrate, it can be withstand probe feed, microstrip line feed, slot aperture coupling,
very high pressure and vibrating condition which is the coplanar line feed, dielectric image guide coupling and so
main practical limitation of existing DRA technology. The on [2]. Again the excitable DRA modes strongly depend on
effect of embedding the radiating DRA on secondary sub- the position of feeding source. They are also the main deci-
strate is studied here in details. A prototype of single an- sive factor for determining nature of radiation pattern of
tenna element is designed, fabricated and measured to DRA. In this paper, the aperture-coupled source [7] is
validate the simulation results. Further, a 2 × 2 antenna preferred because the ground plane can isolate its feed
array with such antenna element is designed at the center network from the DRA and, thus, spurious radiation from
frequency of 6.684 GHz for obtaining higher directive the feed network can be avoided which ensure that most of
gain. The array offers an impedance bandwidth of 4.94% the energy is radiated from DRA. Again it is easier to ob-
and a maximum gain of 13.4 dBi at the operating fre- tain a good single mode operation using a centrally fed slot
quency. A good agreement has been obtained between the because all modes TM and half of the TE modes are elimi-
measured and simulated results. nated (for this configuration, only TEmnl modes with odd
m,n,l can be excited) [8]. Recently DRA arrays have found
widespread attentions due to high gain, wide bandwidth,
low side-lobe-level, high efficiency in various communi-
Keywords cation systems. But most of the DRAs are mounted over
Aperture coupled, antenna gain, dielectric resonator ground plane using adhesive or superglue [9–11]. This
antenna (DRA), embedded technique is not suitable for adverse conditions (high tem-
perature, high pressure etc.). For good performance of
array each individual DRA element must be placed and
attached at the appropriate position. As we go for higher
1. Introduction frequency, the size of the elements becomes small, and
The versatility in design offered by dielectric resona- their exact locations become more decisive, in that situa-
tor antennas (DRAs) make them attractive alternatives to tion this approach not suitable in practice. Aim of our study
other low-gain antennas such as microstrip antennas or is to investigate whether a DRA embedded on a secondary
wire antennas. Lack of surface wave losses and minimal substrate radiates efficiently or not which can eliminate the
conductor losses help them to maintain high radiation effi- above mentioned practical limitations. Some works were
ciency at microwaves or millimeter-waves frequencies. done [12], [13] earlier where DRA’s are embedded within
Various shapes of different dielectric materials can be used one another to enhance impedance bandwidth. In [14–16],

DOI: 10.13164/re.2018.0679 ELECTROMAGNETICS

680 S. BALLAV, S. K. PARUI, APERTURE COUPLED DIELECTRIC RESONATOR ANTENNA EMBEDDED IN A SECONDARY …

an array of DRAs has been designed from a single dielec-

tric sheet with a lattice of holes using perforation tech-
nique. This technique of fabricating DRA arrays eliminates
the requirement of positioning and bonding individual
DRA elements in an array. But the design methodology of
(a)
those lattice holes to get exact array performance is quite
complex.
In this paper, a simple aperture-coupled RDRA is
proposed where high permittivity radiating element is em-
bedded on a secondary substrate of comparatively low
permittivity than the radiating DRA (here FR4 is used as
secondary substrate). The proposed DRA is accurately
excited in fundamental mode TE111 for efficient radiation.
The main feature of the proposed embedded RDRA is that
it can be used in any adverse conditions (especially in high
pressure and trembling environment). In the proposed
design the radiation occurs mainly due to the RDRA. Sec-
ondary substrate i.e. Substrate2 helps to hold the DRA and
hardly affects the resonance frequency of the antenna. So (b)
for large array design using DRA this embedded technique Fig. 1. Configuration of the proposed antenna: l1 = 45 mm,
will become very handy. A comparative study is performed w1 = 42 mm, l = 9.925 mm, w = 9.525 mm, h = 4.6 mm.
between a single element embedded DRA and normal (a) Side siew. (b) Top view.
DRA. Then we further extent our work to design DRA in which kx, ky, and kz are denoted as the wave numbers
arrays. Performance of a 2 × 2 embedded array has been along the x-, y- and z-directions respectively. ko is the free-
studied. The embedded array is operating at 6.684 GHz space wave number corresponding to the resonant fre-
with peak gain of 13.4 dBi with an accurate broadside quency. All of the subscripts p, q, r of TEpqr, must be odd
radiation pattern. numbers for a centrally fed rectangular aperture as bound-
ary condition not permits those resonant modes. We have
considered TE111 modes for our design purpose. By solving
1.1 The Configuration
the transcendental equations given in (1–4) numerically
The configuration of the aperture-coupled RDRA using a programming code in Matlab, we have estimated
with length l, width w, and height h placed on a ground the resonance frequency for TE111 mode. The initially the
plane is shown in Fig. 1. It consists of a RDRA embedded dimension of the aperture is model as [2]:
on FR4 substrate and the feeding circuit is fabricated on 0.4o
Arlon AD270 substrate. A rectangular aperture is cut in the a , (5)
ground plane to couple the energy from the microstrip line e
to the dielectric resonators. A centrally fed aperture has
 r1   r 3
been selected to excite the RDRA such that it radiates like e  , (6)
a horizontal magnetic dipole. The RDRA has 3 dimensions 2
(length, width, and height), which helps to determine the b  0.2a. (7)
resonant frequency of a required modes. In this section, the
dielectric wave guide model (DWM) is used to determine For the center frequency fo of operation the values be-
the resonant frequency of RDRA operating at fundamental come a  5.4 mm and b  1.02 mm. After optimization we
mode for given dimension. Using the DWM model, the have selected a = 9 mm and b = 1 mm which gives good
resonance frequency of the TEpqr mode is given by [2]: impedance matching as well as properly excite the desired
mode of the RDRA. A RDRA of dimensions 9.525 mm 
c 9.525 mm  4.6 mm has been chosen to operate at the
f0  k x2  k y2  kz2 (1)
2  r desired frequency and embedded on FR4 substrate of die-
lectric constant r2 = 4.4, loss tangent of 0.02 and thickness
where of 3.16 mm. Eccostock HIK material of dielectric constant
k x2  k y2  kz2   r ko2 , (2) r3 = 20 has been used to fabricate the prototype of RDRA.
The 50  microstrip feed line is designed on Arlon AD270
p r substrate with the thickness of 0.79 mm, loss tangent of
kx  ; kz  , (3)
l 2h 0.0023 and dielectric constant r1 of 2.7.The length of the
microstrip line is varied and minimum S11 has obtained for
 ky  ls = 4.5 mm as shown in Fig. 2. All simulations have been
wk y  q  2 arctan   (4)
performed using FEM based High-Frequency Structure
  r  1ko2  k y2  Simulator (HFSS).
RADIOENGINEERING, VOL. 27, NO. 3, SEPTEMBER 2018 681

Fig. 4. Simulated and measured S11 of the single element

Fig. 2. Simulated S11 of the single element RDRA for RDRA embedded on FR4 substrate. The parameters
different values of ls. are shown as in Fig. 1.

1.2 Simulated and Measured Results

Figure 3 shows the fabricated prototype of single
element embedded RDRA. The simulated and measured
S11 of the prototype is shown in Fig. 4 with reasonable
agreement between simulation and experimental data. As
(a) (b)
can be shown from Fig. 4 the RDRA element operates at
6.7 GHz with 5.6%-10dB impedance bandwidth. Fig. 5. (a) Full-wave simulated vector E-field of TE111 mode
at minimum 6.59 GHz in the single element RDRA.
An Agilent N5230A vector network analyzer is used to Red (colored diagram): high-intensity field. (b) Ideal
measure the S-parameters. The simulated electric field E-field distributions in RDRA due to TE111 mode.
distribution at 6.59 GHz is matched with the ideal E-field
distributions due to TE111 mode as shown in Fig. 5.
E-field distribution over RDRA and secondary sub-
strate FR4 is shown in Fig. 6 at resonance frequency
6.59 GHz. From the field distribution we can easily con-
clude that most of the fields is confined within the RDRA
hence losses due the secondary FR4 substrate are negotia-
ble. The simulated and measured E-plane (xz plane) and H-
plane (yz plane) normalized radiation patterns at 6.7 GHz
are shown in Fig. 7 and Fig. 8, respectively. The measured
E-plane and H-plane peak gains are 3.2 dBi and 3.7 dBi,
respectively. The measured cross-polarization levels for Fig. 6. Full-wave simulated E-fields distribution over the
whole antenna at f = 6.59 GHz.
both E-plane and H-plane are very less from their peak
values.

(a) (b) (c)

Fig. 3. Fabricated prototype of single element embedded
RDRA. (a) Perspective view of the aperture on the
ground plane. (b) Perspective view of the antenna.
(c) Perspective view of the feed line below the ground Fig. 7. Simulated and measured E-plane normalized radiation
plane. pattern of the single element antenna.
682 S. BALLAV, S. K. PARUI, APERTURE COUPLED DIELECTRIC RESONATOR ANTENNA EMBEDDED IN A SECONDARY …

2. Parameter Analysis

2.1 Effect of Height of Substrate2

Figure 9 shows the variation of reflection coefficient
with change in height of substrate2 h2 and corresponding
gain plot also depicted taking FR4 (εr2 = 4.4) as substrate2.
It can be seen that the height h2 of substrate2 has consider-
able effect on the reflection coefficient and gain of the
antenna. If h2 is become equal with the height of RDRA
then the radiation of the antenna decreases significantly.
The resonance frequency is shifted and matching perfor-
mance also altered with the variation of h2 due to the
Fig. 8. Simulated and measured H-plane normalized radiation
change in effective permittivity. After optimization we
pattern of the single element antenna. have consider FR4 of height 3.16 mm as substrate2 since
the best matching is achieved for h2 = 3.16 mm.

2.2 Effect of Dielectric Constant of Substrate 2

Effect of dielectric constant of substrate2 on operating
frequency is also studied by keeping the height of sub-
strate2 fixed at 3.16 mm. From the simulation results as
shown in Fig. 10 it has been observed that operating fre-
quency decrease with increase in r2. The variation in the
operating frequency mainly caused due to the change in
effective permittivity surroundings of the RDRA. Radia-
tion performance (gain) is also degraded with increase in
r2. Though the best matching performance is achieved for
r2 = 4.1 we have used FR4 of r2 = 4.4 as substrate2. As
FR4 of r2 = 4.4 is easily available and it is more close to
4.1 so we have considered it as substrate2 which gives
good matching and desirable gain at the operating fre-
quency.
Fig. 9. Simulated S11 of the DRA for different height of
substrate2. Inset shows the corresponding gain plot.
2.3 Study of Mutual Coupling
The mutual coupling S21 between two elements is
studied both for embedded and isolated DRA. Since we
extent our work to design an array using the proposed
method, the impact of substrate2 on mutual coupling
between two elements is also explored. The center-to-center

Fig. 10. Simulated S11 of the DRA for different dielectric Fig. 11. Schematic diagram of two RDRA placed at distance s
constant of substrate2. Inset shows the corresponding on a substrate of length lm = 80 mm and width
gain plot. wm = 48 mm.
RADIOENGINEERING, VOL. 27, NO. 3, SEPTEMBER 2018 683

(a) (b)

Fig. 14. Schematic diagram of 2  2 DRA array: (a) feed

Fig. 12. Mutual coupling between two elements versus network below ground plane; (b) front view.
frequency with a center-to-center spacing of 0.5λo at
6.59 GHz between the elements.

Fig. 15. Simulated S-parameters of the feeding network for the

proposed 2  2 array.
Fig. 13. Simulated mutual coupling versus center-to-center
distance between two elements.
w4 = w5 w6 = w8 w7 w9
distance s between two elements is varied from 0.3λo to
0.8λo. The variation of S21 with distance s at resonance 2.13 1.2 0.59 1.23
frequency for both isolated and embedded DRA is plotted l4 l5 = l 6 l7 = l8 l9
in Fig. 13. Variation of S21 with frequency is shown in
Fig. 12. From the simulation results, it is apparent that for 8.68 7.8 3.5 11
embedded DRA 0.5λo separation between the two elements
Tab. 1. Dimension values of feeding network for array design
at 6.59 GHz, a 15-dB coupling level is tolerable. (unit: mm).

3. Embedded RDRA Array 3.2 Simulated and Measured Results

The design parameters of the array are optimized by
the full wave simulator HFSS. To validate the precision of
3.1 The Array Configuration the design, a prototype is fabricated and tested as illustrated
In order to establish our concept of embedded DRA, in Fig. 16. The simulated and measured S11 is depicted in
we have designed a four-element array. The antenna con- Fig. 17. The measured resonant frequency of the proposed
figuration along with the feeding network is shown in antenna array is 6.684 GHz with –10dB impedance band-
Fig. 14. Response of the power divider is given in Fig. 15. width of 4.94%. A shift of 104 MHz in frequency can be
Magnitude of S11 is well below –10 dB within the fre- seen compared to the simulated one, which is presumably
quency band of 5 GHz to 8 GHz. Also we have found that caused by the losses in feed network, change in the effec-
all 4-ports are fed by equal amount of power within oper- tive dielectric constant, the fabrication imperfection and
ating frequency band. The design parameters of the feeding assembling error. The far-field radiation patterns of the
network for array design are given in Tab. 1. Separation antenna array were measured in both planes with an An-
between the array elements is chosen as c = d = 23 mm to ritsu MG3692C signal generator as a source of continuous
avoid mutual coupling effect by a reasonable amount (less wave, standard gain horn antennas, and an Anritsu
than –15 dB). ML2437A power meter. The simulated and measured E-
684 S. BALLAV, S. K. PARUI, APERTURE COUPLED DIELECTRIC RESONATOR ANTENNA EMBEDDED IN A SECONDARY …

plane radiation pattern and H-plane radiation pattern of the

proposed embedded array are shown in Fig. 18 and Fig. 19,
respectively.
A simulated gain of 11.1 dBi is observed and meas-
ured gain of 10.4 dBi is achieved for the E-plane radiation
pattern of the array. For the H-plane radiation pattern,
simulated and measured gains were 11.1 dBi and 13.4 dBi,
respectively. A good agreement between the simulated and
measured radiation patterns for both E-plane and H-plane

Fig. 19. Simulated and measured H-plane normalized radiation

pattern of antenna array at 6.68 GHz.

is observed for the proposed antenna array. The 3-dB

beam-widths in the E- and H-planes are around 37° and
(a) (b) (c) 62°. The co-cross polarized isolation levels are less than
Fig. 16. Fabricated prototype of embedded RDRA array.
–15 dB and the measured first sidelobe levels in E-plane
(a) Perspective view of apertures on ground plane. are around –15 dB whereas for H-plane those are below
(b) Perspective view of antenna array. (c) Perspective –17 dB. Embedded slot feed array design helps to reduce
view of power divider network below the ground plane. cross-polarization level also significant reduction in side-
lobe levels is observed.

4. Conclusion
With our proposed embedded design we can develop
DRA blocks which become more rigid. For large array
design using DRA, instead of mounting each individual
element on the ground plane, from our work we can think
of an inhomogeneous uneven substrate on which high
permittivity regions are formed as per design requirement
for efficient radiation. This makes whole arrangement
become more stable and rigid in practice. A prototype of
single element embedded RDRA has been fabricated and
measured. The simulated results of reflection coefficients
Fig. 17. Simulated and measured S11 of the proposed antenna
and radiation patterns have been found to be in reasonably
array. Parameters as in Tab. 1.
good agreement with measured results. A prototype of
2  2 array is also fabricated and measured. The measured
maximum gain of 13.4 dBi has been found for the pro-
posed DRA array. Embedded slot feed array design notably
reduces cross-polarization level and also significant reduc-
tion in sidelobe levels is obtained. The proposed DRA
array has very simple geometry and is inexpensive to fabri-
cate. Due to non-availability of measurement facility we
restrict our design within microwave frequency band. But
the proposed DRA array is supposed to be a good approach
in mm wave frequency band for 5G communication tech-
nology which is currently going through many challenges.
The proposed antenna array has increased the reliability of
use DRA for air/space born systems.

Acknowledgments
Fig. 18. Simulated and measured E-plane normalized radiation
pattern of antenna array at 6.68 GHz. The authors thank senior colleagues for their valuable
RADIOENGINEERING, VOL. 27, NO. 3, SEPTEMBER 2018 685

comments which have helped to improve the quality of [13] SANGIOVANNI, A., DAUVIGNAC, J. Y., PICHOT, CH. Em-
bedded dielectric resonator antenna for bandwidth enhancement.
paper.
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10.1049/el:19971430
[14] PETOSA, A., THIRAKOUNE, S., ZULIANI, M., et al.
Comparison between planar arrays of perforated DRAs and
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