Characterization of on-chip antennas for millimeter-wave applications

A method for characterization of on-chip antennas operating at millimeter-wave frequencies is presented in this paper. The test antenna is a dipole excited by coplanar strips and fabricated in low cost CMOS process. The radiation pattern and gain of the antenna is measured using a probe station and a vector network analyzer thus benefiting from calibration techniques that de-embed the effects of probes and connecting cables. A test set up is designed to measure the antenna gain and pattern at various angles on the antenna plane. Radiation patterns measured at 55 and 60 GHz show good agreement with fullwave simulations.

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