Abstract: A compact endfire tapered slot antenna, which may be advantageously printed on a low permittivity Liquid Crystal Polymer substrate. The antenna features a microstrip-to-slot transition, in which the matching stubs of the slotline antenna feed and the microstrip input line are collinear. This is achieved using a 90° bend in the slotline. The antenna is consequently of smaller size, and has improved bandwidth over prior art geometries. The antenna may be carried on a fork-shaped metallic carrier, which gives it good rigidity, and may incorporate a metallic reflector, which increases its directive gain. The antenna is simpler to manufacture and a less costly alternative to conventional 60-GHz tapered slot antennas printed on multilayer LTCC substrates. It can be used both as an individual radiator as well as an element of an antenna array and is readily integrated with an RF module for use in future WPAN applications.

Abstract: A compact endfire tapered slot antenna, which may be advantageously printed on a low permittivity Liquid Crystal Polymer substrate. The antenna features a microstrip-to-slot transition, in which the matching stubs of the slotline antenna feed and the microstrip input line are collinear. This is achieved using a 90° bend in the slotline. The antenna is consequently of smaller size, and has improved bandwidth over prior art geometries. The antenna may be carried on a fork-shaped metallic carrier, which gives it good rigidity, and may incorporate a metallic reflector, which increases its directive gain. The antenna is simpler to manufacture and a less costly alternative to conventional 60-GHz tapered slot antennas printed on multilayer LTCC substrates. It can be used both as an individual radiator as well as an element of an antenna array and is readily integrated INPUT with an RF module for use in future WPAN applications.