Thick-slot transition and antenna arrays in the Q band

This paper deals with an H-shaped slot etched in a thick ground plane to feed multilayer antenna arrays. This study, takes place under the European MIPA project {[}1], which concerns cut antenna prototype that is part of a Q-band (50-GHz) one-feed-per-beam antenna reflector. In millimetre waves, it is highly, required to separate active layers (MEMS, MMIC, and so on) and radiating elements in order to avoid electrical spuriousness generated by coupling radiation. This separation is done with a very thick metallic support (2 mm). Moreover, this thick ground plane is important with regard to the thermal dissipation aspect. With this aim, the authors present an original feed of antenna array, via an H-shaped thick-slot transition. (C) 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.