60 GHz CMOS circular patch antenna-on-chip

This article presents a 60 GHz circular patch Antenna-on-Chip (AoC) on asymmetric Artificial Magnetic Conductor (AMC) designed and fabricated using the TSMC 0.18 μm CMOS process. An AMC plane allows a positive reflection coefficient within the bandwidth of interest so incident and reflected waves are in phase. At the AMC frequency of operation, a high impedance is generated which reduces surface waves and thus enhances gain. At first, circular AoC performance is enhanced using a square AMC. However, square AMC cells suffer from discontinuities that affect performance when using lengthy feed lines to connect the AoC to a front-end circuit. To overcome this problem, an asymmetric rectangular (R-AMC) is employed. A modified asymmetric AMC is used with a circular AoC for further gain enhancement. The area of the fabricated design is only 1715 μm × 710 μm. Measured |S₁₁|, gain and radiation patterns are reported.