A Wideband Circularly Polarized Magnetoelectric Dipole Antenna for 5G Millimeter-Wave Communications

In this paper, a wideband circularly polarized (CP) magnetoelectric (ME) dipole antenna operating at 28 GHz band was proposed for 5G millimeter-wave (mm-wave) communications. The antenna geometry included two metallic plates with extended hook-shaped strips at its principal diagonal position, and two corners of truncated metallic plates at the secondary diagonal position. The pair of metallic vias connected the modified strips to the ground plane to create the magnetic dipole. The L-shaped probe feed between the strips was used to excite the antenna. The antenna showed stable gain and wideband characteristics. The simulated and measured results showed that the proposed CP ME dipole antenna had an overlapping (|S11|< −10 dB impedance and 3 dB axial ratio) bandwidth of 18.1% (25−30 GHz), covering the frequency bands dedicated for 5G new radio communications. Moreover, an average gain of 8 dBic was achieved by the antenna throughout the operating bandwidth. The measured data verified the design concept, and the proposed antenna had a small footprint of 0.83 λo × 0.83 λo × 0.125 λo (λo is free space wavelength at the lowest operating frequency), suitable for its application in 5G smart devices and sensors.