Leaky-Wave Antenna Array on BCB at Submillimeter Frequency Bands

This paper presents the design of a leaky wave antenna array (LWA) on a polymer substrate operating at submillimeter frequency bands. A straight front face constrained lens is used to excite the array. The lens is implemented in substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) technology and fed by a SIW horn. Benzocyclobutene (BCB) polymer is used as substrate to implement the antenna structure. A reflection coefficient lower than -15 dB and a gain more than 15 dBi over a 20% fractional bandwidth from 270 GHz to 330 GHz are achieved. The antenna efficiency is estimated to be 25%.