Enhanced Transmission Performance of a Dipole Antenna Based on a Ceramic Diamond-Structure PBG Substrate with a Defect Cavity.

The radiation performance of a dipole antenna on a diamond-structured photonic crystal (PC) substrate with point defects fabricated using three-dimensional (3D) printing technology has been investigated. Meanwhile, according to the reflection properties of the PCs, corresponding dipole antennas were fabricated and packaged with standard coaxial lines. The experimental results showed a strong radiation frequency of the dipole antenna at about 13 GHz, in basic agreement with the strongest reflection frequency of the PCs with point defects. The experimental results also show that the maximum gain of the major lobe in the dipole antenna was close to −67 dB, while the angular range of the major lobe was 5–55°. The maximum gain of the major lobe increased to −60 dB in the composite antenna, representing an improvement of 7 dB compared with the dipole antenna, while the width range of the major lobe was 240–270°. These results show that the use of such substrates based on diamond-structure PCs with point defects could significantly improve the gain and directivity of the antenna, providing a basis for engineering applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]