Absorber Integrated Planar Slot Array Antenna for Suppression of Multiple Reflection in 120-GHz-Band Close-Proximity Wireless System

This paper proposes the absorber integrated planar array antenna for a 120-GHz-band close proximity wireless system. It consists of split-ring resonators (SRRs) patterned on a quartz substrate and a plate-laminated-waveguide planar slot array antenna. Precise alignment and multiple reflection between Tx-Rx antenna become severe problem as the carrier frequency increases, such as >100GHz. The absorber integrated planar slot array antenna solves these problems. We designed a SRR unit cell that acts as a millimeter-wave (MMW) absorber, and the simulated S11 of the SRR absorber at 125GHz is -37dB. The use of the SRR absorber on the planar slot antenna suppresses the multiple reflection between Tx and Rx antennas, however the transmission loss between Tx and Rx antennas increases. We changed the conductivity and cell size of 2×3 element SRR unit cells directly above the waveguide slots in order to make them act as an SRR director, and the use of the SRR director improved the transmission loss by 2.7dB. We simulated the transmission characteristics of a close-proximity wireless system using the SRR absorber integrated planar slot antennas. The simulated fluctuation of S21 in the 120-130GHz band is below 2.6dB, and the delayed waves that come from the multiple reflection between Tx and Rx antennas were suppressed.