An antenna

Abstract

The present disclosure provides an antenna, which comprises a magnetic electric dipole antenna and a feed patch for coupling with the magnetic electric dipole antenna, the antenna no longer uses a through hole to directly feed an electric signal into the feed patch, but sets a slit below the feed patch, so that the electric signal is coupled to the feed patch through the slit, so that the size of the feed patch is no longer limited by the through hole, and thus the size of the feed patch can be minimized without affecting the performance of the antenna, so that the magnetic electric dipole antenna can be closer, thereby reducing the area occupied by the entire antenna and facilitating the miniaturization design of the antenna.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This disclosure relates to the field of semiconductor technology, and more specifically to an antenna. Background Technology

[0002] The demand for higher data transmission rates in 5G communication systems inevitably relies on the use of wider frequency bands, and the selection and design of antenna types are also factors in achieving wider frequency bands. Among them, magnetoelectric dipole (MED) antennas have advantages such as stable radiation modes, wide impedance bandwidth, low cross-polarization, and low back radiation, making them one of the antenna types chosen to be used in 5G communication systems.

[0003] Please refer to Figure 1A and Figure 1B These are, respectively, a top view and a longitudinal cross-sectional view of an existing magnetoelectric dipole antenna. Figure 1A and Figure 1B As shown, the antenna 10 includes a magnetoelectric dipole antenna 21 connected to the underlying ground layer 11 through a conductive hole 22, and a feed patch 23 located in the middle of the magnetoelectric dipole antenna 21. Generally, the feeding signal is transmitted to the feed patch 23 through a via 25 in the dielectric layer, so that the feed patch 23 is electrically coupled to the magnetoelectric dipole antenna 21.

[0004] However, due to the limitation of the diameter of the via 25 through the dielectric layer, the feed patch 23 connecting the via 25 needs to have a certain width. This causes the magnetoelectric dipole antenna 21, which originally needed to maintain a certain distance from the feed patch 23, to be configured in a direction away from the feed patch 23 to match the width of the feed patch 23. This results in a larger area occupied by the overall antenna, which limits miniaturization. Summary of the Invention

[0005] This disclosure presents an antenna.

[0006] In a first aspect, this disclosure provides an antenna, comprising: a magnetoelectric dipole antenna; a feed patch disposed close to and physically separated from the magnetoelectric dipole antenna for coupling with the magnetoelectric dipole antenna; and a slit disposed below and spaced apart from the feed patch for coupling an electrical signal through the slit to the feed patch.

[0007] In some alternative implementations, the geometry of the power feed patch and the slit is configured to be perpendicular or nearly perpendicular when viewed from above.

[0008] In some alternative implementations, the power-feeding patches are arranged symmetrically with respect to the geometric center of the slit.

[0009] In some alternative implementations, the magnetoelectric dipole antenna has a notch to provide the required impedance matching.

[0010] In some alternative implementations, the feed patch causes the current direction on the outer periphery of the magnetoelectric dipole antenna to tend to be substantially the same as the direction in which the feed patch extends.

[0011] In some alternative embodiments, the antenna further includes a microstrip line disposed below and spaced apart from the slit for transmitting electrical signals.

[0012] In some alternative embodiments, the magnetoelectric dipole antenna includes two magnetoelectric dipole antenna elements arranged at relative intervals, and the feed patch is disposed between the two magnetoelectric dipole antenna elements, with the feed patch being at equal or approximately equal distances from the two magnetoelectric dipole antenna elements.

[0013] In some alternative embodiments, a first dielectric channel is defined between the two magnetoelectric dipole antenna elements, each magnetoelectric dipole antenna element includes two magnetoelectric dipoles arranged at a relative interval, a second dielectric channel is defined between the two magnetoelectric dipoles of each of the two magnetoelectric dipole antenna elements, the feed patch extends along the direction of the first dielectric channel, and the slit extends along the direction of the second dielectric channel.

[0014] In some alternative embodiments, the magnetoelectric dipole antenna includes magnetoelectric dipoles arranged in an array, wherein the geometric center of the array of magnetoelectric dipoles coincides with or nearly coincides with the geometric center of the feed patch and the geometric center of the slit when viewed from a top position.

[0015] In some alternative implementations, each of the magnetoelectric dipoles has a notch in the region near the first dielectric channel and on the periphery.

[0016] In some alternative implementations, each of the magnetoelectric dipoles is electrically connected to the underlying ground plane through a conductive hole.

[0017] In some alternative implementations, the magnetoelectric dipole antenna and the feed patch are located on the same plane, and the slit is formed on the underlying ground layer.

[0018] To address the technical problem that the feed patch requires a certain width due to the diameter limitation of the via in the dielectric layer, resulting in a large overall antenna area and restricting antenna miniaturization, the antenna disclosed in this invention features a slit below the feed patch. This slit couples the electrical signal to the feed patch, replacing the existing method of directly feeding the signal into the feed patch using vias. This removes the size limitation of the feed patch from the vias, allowing for a reduction in its size without affecting antenna performance. This enables the magnetoelectric dipole antenna to be positioned closer together, further reducing the overall antenna area and facilitating miniaturization design. Attached Figure Description

[0019] Other features, objects, and advantages of this disclosure will become more apparent from the following detailed description of non-limiting embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings:

[0020] Figure 1A This is a top view of an existing magnetoelectric dipole antenna.

[0021] Figure 1B This is a schematic diagram of a longitudinal cross-section of an existing magnetoelectric dipole antenna.

[0022] Figure 2A This is a top view schematic diagram of an embodiment of the antenna according to the present disclosure;

[0023] Figure 2B This is a schematic diagram of a longitudinal cross-sectional structure of an antenna according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0024] Figure 3 This is a comparative schematic diagram of the antenna according to this disclosure and existing antennas;

[0025] Figure 4A This is a top view schematic diagram of another embodiment of the antenna according to the present disclosure;

[0026] Figure 4B This is a schematic diagram of the current direction according to another embodiment of the antenna of this disclosure;

[0027] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of an experimental verification result of the antenna according to this disclosure.

[0028] Explanation of reference numerals / symbols in the attached diagram:

[0029] 10-Antenna; 11-Ground layer; 21-Magnetic-electric dipole antenna; 21a-First magnetic-electric dipole antenna element; 21b-Second magnetic-electric dipole antenna element; 210-Magnetic-electric dipole; 211-Notch; 22-Conductive hole; 23-Feed patch; 24-Slit; 25-Through hole; 31-First dielectric channel; 32-Second dielectric channel. Detailed Implementation

[0030] The specific embodiments of this disclosure will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings and examples. Those skilled in the art can easily understand the technical problems solved by this disclosure and the resulting technical effects through the content described herein. It is understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely illustrative of the relevant invention and not intended to limit the invention. Furthermore, for ease of description, only the parts relevant to the invention are shown in the accompanying drawings.

[0031] It should be readily understood that the meanings of “on,” “above,” and “on top of” in this disclosure should be interpreted in the broadest sense, such that “on” means not only “directly on something,” but also “on something” including intermediate components or layers existing between the two.

[0032] Furthermore, for ease of description, spatial relative terms such as “below,” “under,” “lower,” “above,” and “upper” may be used herein to describe the relationship of one element or component to another element or component shown in the accompanying drawings. In addition to the orientations described in the figures, spatial relative terms are also intended to cover different orientations of the device during use or operation. The device may be oriented in other ways (rotated 90° or otherwise), and the spatial relative descriptive terms used herein may be interpreted accordingly.

[0033] As used herein, the term "layer" refers to a portion of material comprising a region of a certain thickness. A layer may extend over the entirety of an underlying or upper layer structure, or may have a extent smaller than that of the underlying or upper layer structure. Furthermore, a layer may be a region of a homogeneous or heterogeneous continuous structure, with a thickness less than that of the continuous structure. For example, a layer may be located between the top and bottom surfaces of a continuous structure, or between any pair of horizontal planes therebetween. A layer may extend horizontally, vertically, and / or along a tapered surface. A substrate may be a single layer, which may include one or more layers, and / or may have one or more layers on, above, and / or below it. A single layer may include multiple layers. For example, a semiconductor layer may include one or more doped or undoped semiconductor layers, and may have the same or different materials.

[0034] As used herein, the term "substrate" refers to the material on which subsequent material layers are added. The substrate itself may be patterned. The material added on top of the substrate may be patterned or may remain unpatterned. Furthermore, the substrate may comprise a wide variety of semiconductor materials, such as silicon, silicon carbide, gallium nitride, germanium, gallium arsenide, indium phosphide, etc. Alternatively, the substrate may be made of a non-conductive material, such as glass, plastic, or sapphire wafers. Further alternatively, the substrate may have semiconductor devices or circuits formed therein.

[0035] It should be noted that the structures, proportions, sizes, etc., depicted in the accompanying drawings are only for illustrative purposes to aid those skilled in the art in understanding and reading the content described herein, and are not intended to limit the implementation conditions of this disclosure. Therefore, they have no substantial technical significance. Any modifications to the structure, changes in proportions, or adjustments to size, without affecting the effectiveness and purpose of this disclosure, should still fall within the scope of the technical content disclosed herein. Furthermore, terms such as "above," "first," "second," and "a" used in this specification are merely for clarity of description and are not intended to limit the scope of this disclosure. Changes or adjustments to their relative relationships, without substantially altering the technical content, should also be considered within the scope of this disclosure's implementation.

[0036] It should be noted that "nearly perpendicular" in this specification can be understood as the included angle between the two being within a small design range centered on 90 degrees; "approximately equal" can be understood as the deviation between the two values ​​being within the design deviation range; and "nearly coincident" can be understood as the deviation of the center distance being within the design deviation range.

[0037] It should also be noted that the longitudinal section corresponding to the embodiments of this disclosure can be the section corresponding to the front view direction, the transverse section can be the section corresponding to the right view direction, and the horizontal section can be the section corresponding to the top view direction.

[0038] Furthermore, the embodiments and features described herein can be combined with each other, unless otherwise specified. This disclosure will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments.

[0039] refer to Figure 2A and 2B , Figure 2A and 2B These are top view and longitudinal cross-sectional view of an embodiment of the antenna according to the present disclosure.

[0040] like Figure 2A and 2B As shown, the antenna 10 in this embodiment includes:

[0041] 21. Magnetoelectric dipole antenna;

[0042] The feed patch 23 is positioned close to the magnetoelectric dipole antenna 21 and physically separated from it, and is used for coupling with the magnetoelectric dipole antenna 21.

[0043] The slit 24 is located below the power supply patch 23 and spaced apart from the power supply patch 23, and is used to allow electrical signals to couple with the power supply patch 23 through the slit 24.

[0044] The magnetoelectric dipole antenna 21 can be an antenna that combines electric and magnetic dipoles to achieve complementary characteristics, offering better performance than a typical dipole antenna. It is usually composed of multiple magnetoelectric dipoles. The feed patch 23 can be a component that transmits energy to the magnetoelectric dipole antenna via electromagnetic coupling; its specific form can be, for example, a conductive pad. The slit 24 can be a narrow, elongated slot formed in a metal layer, such as a ground layer. Regarding the electrical signal, there are two cases: when the antenna 10 is used as a transmitter, the electrical signal refers to the input signal; when the antenna 10 is used as a receiver, the electrical signal refers to the received signal.

[0045] This antenna uses a slit 24 below the feed patch 23 to couple electrical signals to the feed patch 23, replacing the existing method of using through holes to directly feed electrical signals into the feed patch 23. Since there is no need to set through holes on the feed patch 23, the size of the feed patch 23 is no longer limited by through holes. Therefore, the size of the feed patch 23 can be reduced as much as possible without affecting the antenna performance, so that the magnetoelectric dipole antenna 21 can be placed closer, thereby reducing the area occupied by the entire antenna and contributing to the miniaturization design of the antenna.

[0046] In some alternative embodiments, the antenna 10 may further include a microstrip line (not shown) for transmitting electrical signals, disposed below and spaced apart from the slit 24. When the antenna is used as a transmitter, the microstrip line transmits electrical signals to the area below the slit 24, allowing the electrical signals to be excited through the slit 24 and coupled to the feed patch 23, which then couples the energy to the magnetoelectric dipole antenna 21. When the antenna is used as a receiver, the magnetoelectric dipole antenna 21 couples the energy to the feed patch 23, and the microstrip line receives the signal from the feed patch 23 through the slit 24. Here, the microstrip line serves to transmit electrical signals, but this disclosure is not limited to using microstrip lines; other forms of transmission lines may also be used.

[0047] In some alternative implementations, the geometry of the feed patch 23 and the slit 24 is configured to be perpendicular or nearly perpendicular when viewed from above, in order to control the current direction of the magnetoelectric dipole antenna 21, making the current direction in most areas of the magnetoelectric dipole antenna 21 tend to be consistent. It should be noted that the feed patch 23 can also be used for impedance matching. Combining impedance matching and current direction control, the feed patch 23 can ensure antenna performance, improve antenna radiation efficiency, and achieve the designed return loss target.

[0048] In some alternative implementations, the feed patch 23 is arranged symmetrically with respect to the geometric center of the slit 24 to ensure that the feed patch 23 does not affect the radiation pattern of the magnetoelectric dipole antenna 21 and to avoid changes in the antenna radiation pattern due to the asymmetry of the feed patch 23.

[0049] In some alternative implementations, the magnetoelectric dipole antenna 21 and the feed patch 23 are located on the same plane, the slit 24 is formed on the ground layer 11 below, and the microstrip line is designed below the ground layer 11.

[0050] In some optional embodiments, the magnetoelectric dipole antenna 21 includes two magnetoelectric dipole antenna elements arranged at a relative interval, namely, a first magnetoelectric dipole antenna element 21a and a second magnetoelectric dipole antenna element 21b. Each magnetoelectric dipole antenna element further includes two magnetoelectric dipoles 210 arranged at a relative interval, that is, the magnetoelectric dipole antenna 21 includes a total of four magnetoelectric dipoles 210, and the four magnetoelectric dipoles 210 are arranged in an array. Each magnetoelectric dipole 210 is electrically connected to the underlying ground layer 11 through a conductive hole 22.

[0051] In some alternative implementations, the feed patch 23 is disposed between the two magnetoelectric dipole antenna elements 21a and 21b, and the distance between the feed patch 23 and the two magnetoelectric dipole antenna elements 21a and 21b is equal or approximately equal, so as to ensure that the coupling effect with the two magnetoelectric dipole antenna elements 21a and 21b is comparable and does not affect the radiation pattern of the magnetoelectric dipole antenna 21.

[0052] In some alternative implementations, a first dielectric channel 31 is defined between the two magnetoelectric dipole antenna elements 21a and 21b, and a second dielectric channel 32 is defined between the two magnetoelectric dipoles 210 of each of the two magnetoelectric dipole antenna elements. The first dielectric channel 31 and the second dielectric channel 32 are perpendicular or nearly perpendicular to each other. The feed patch 23 extends along the direction of the first dielectric channel 31, and the slit 24 extends along the direction of the second dielectric channel 32.

[0053] In some alternative implementations, the geometric centers of the four magnetoelectric dipoles 210 coincide or nearly coincide with the geometric centers of the feed patch 23 and the slit 24 when viewed from above, to ensure that the electrical signal is well coupled to the feed patch 23 and well coupled to the magnetoelectric dipoles 210 through the feed patch 23.

[0054] Please refer to Figure 3 This is a comparative schematic diagram of the antenna according to this disclosure and existing antennas. Figure 3 In the diagram, (a) shows an existing antenna using through-hole feeding, and (b) shows the antenna of this disclosure. Both are aligned with a reference line on their left sides, and the reference lines on their right sides are lines L1 and L2, respectively. The distance between lines L1 and L2 represents the size reduction that the antenna of this disclosure can achieve. Compared to existing antennas, the antenna of this disclosure can reduce the antenna size while achieving the same function, such as transmitting / receiving signals in the same frequency band, and maintaining substantially the same performance.

[0055] Please refer to Figure 4A This is a top view schematic diagram of another embodiment of the antenna according to the present disclosure. Figure 4A The antenna shown is similar to Figure 2A The antenna shown differs in that the magnetoelectric dipole antenna 21 has a notch 211, which is used to provide the required impedance matching. Optionally, each magnetoelectric dipole 210 has a notch 211 in the region near the first dielectric channel 31 and on the periphery. By designing the shape and size of the notch 211, the impedance matching of the antenna can be adjusted to meet design requirements. Optionally, the notches on the magnetoelectric dipole antenna 21 are symmetrically distributed to avoid affecting the antenna field pattern distribution.

[0056] As mentioned earlier, the feed patch 23 can control the current direction of the magnetoelectric dipole antenna 21. The following section will use... Figure 4A The antenna in this embodiment will be used as an example for specific explanation. The current direction in the antenna of this embodiment is as follows: Figure 4B As shown, the feed patch 23 causes the current in the outer portion of the magnetoelectric dipole antenna 21 to tend towards a uniform direction, denoted by Je, that is, the direction substantially the same as the extension direction of the feed patch 23, as indicated by the solid arrow in the figure; the current direction near the middle position on the magnetoelectric dipole antenna 21 is opposite to the Je direction, as indicated by the dashed arrow in the figure. By controlling the current direction as follows... Figure 4B As shown in the figure, combined with impedance matching, the antenna's radiation efficiency can be improved, and the antenna return loss can reach the design target.

[0057] Please refer to Figure 5 Furthermore, this disclosure also includes experimental verification of the antenna. Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the experimental verification results. Figure 5The horizontal axis represents the electromagnetic wave frequency in GHz, and the vertical axis is in dB. The upper and lower lines represent the antenna gain and return loss characteristic parameter S11, respectively. As can be seen from the figure, S11 is below -10dB in the frequency range from 135.98GHz to 163.80GHz, which means that the antenna has a wide impedance bandwidth and meets the antenna design requirements well.

[0058] In summary, to address the technical problem that the feed patch requires a certain width due to the diameter limitation of the via in the dielectric layer, resulting in a large overall antenna area and restricting antenna miniaturization, the antenna disclosed in this invention does not have vias in the feed patch. Instead, a slit is provided below the feed patch, through which electrical signals are coupled to the feed patch. This replaces the existing technology that uses vias to directly feed electrical signals into the feed patch. As a result, the size of the feed patch is no longer limited by vias. Therefore, without affecting antenna performance, the size of the feed patch can be minimized, allowing the magnetoelectric dipole antenna to be placed closer together, thereby reducing the overall antenna area and contributing to the miniaturization design of the antenna.

[0059] It should be noted that, for the antenna disclosed herein, this specification mostly uses the antenna as the transmitting end as an example for explanation. However, it should be understood that the antenna can also be used as the receiving end. In this case, the signal direction is reversed, but the basic principle is similar. This specification will not elaborate on each one in detail.

[0060] Although this disclosure has been described and illustrated with reference to specific embodiments thereof, such descriptions and illustrations are not limiting of this disclosure. It will be readily understood by those skilled in the art that various changes can be made and equivalent elements can be substituted within embodiments without departing from the true spirit and scope of this disclosure as defined by the appended claims. Illustrations may not be drawn to scale. Differences may exist between the technical representation in this disclosure and actual implementation due to variables in the manufacturing process, etc. Other embodiments of this disclosure may exist that are not specifically described. The description and illustrations should be considered illustrative rather than restrictive. Modifications can be made to adapt particular circumstances, materials, composition, methods, or processes to the objectives, spirit, and scope of this disclosure. All such modifications fall within the scope of the appended claims. While the methods disclosed herein have been described with reference to specific operations performed in a particular order, it should be understood that these operations can be combined, subdivided, or reordered to form equivalent methods without departing from the teachings of this disclosure. Therefore, unless specifically indicated herein, the order and grouping of operations do not limit this disclosure.

Claims

1. An antenna, comprising: Magnetoelectric dipole antenna; A feed patch is positioned close to the magnetoelectric dipole antenna and physically separated from it, for coupling with the magnetoelectric dipole antenna; A slit is disposed below the power supply patch and spaced apart from the power supply patch, for allowing electrical signals to couple with the power supply patch through the slit.

2. The antenna according to claim 1, wherein, The geometry of the power supply patch and the slit is configured to be perpendicular or nearly perpendicular when viewed from above.

3. The antenna according to claim 2, wherein, The power supply patches are arranged symmetrically with respect to the geometric center of the slit.

4. The antenna according to claim 3, wherein, The magnetoelectric dipole antenna has a notch to provide the necessary impedance matching.

5. The antenna according to claim 2, wherein, The feed patch causes the current direction on the outer periphery of the magnetoelectric dipole antenna to tend to be substantially the same as the extension direction of the feed patch.

6. The antenna according to claim 1, wherein, Also includes: A microstrip line is disposed below the slit and spaced apart from the slit, and is used to transmit electrical signals.

7. The antenna according to claim 1, wherein, The magnetoelectric dipole antenna includes two magnetoelectric dipole antenna elements arranged at relative intervals. The feed patch is disposed between the two magnetoelectric dipole antenna elements, and the distance between the feed patch and the two magnetoelectric dipole antenna elements is equal or approximately equal.

8. The antenna according to claim 7, wherein, A first dielectric channel is defined between the two magnetoelectric dipole antenna elements. Each magnetoelectric dipole antenna element includes two magnetoelectric dipoles arranged at a relative interval. A second dielectric channel is defined between the two magnetoelectric dipoles of each of the two magnetoelectric dipole antenna elements. The feed patch extends along the direction of the first dielectric channel, and the slit extends along the direction of the second dielectric channel.

9. The antenna according to claim 1, wherein, The magnetoelectric dipole antenna includes magnetoelectric dipoles, which are arranged in an array. The geometric center of the arrayed magnetoelectric dipoles coincides with or nearly coincides with the geometric center of the feed patch and the geometric center of the slit when viewed from a top-down direction.

10. The antenna according to claim 9, wherein, Each of the magnetoelectric dipoles is electrically connected to the ground layer below through a conductive hole.

11. The antenna according to claim 1, wherein, The magnetoelectric dipole antenna and the feed patch are located on the same plane, and the slit is opened on the ground layer below.

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