A high-efficiency broadband WR3 bond wire on-chip antenna

This paper presents the design of a bond wire antenna suitable for integration with high-speeds MMIC processes. The basic antenna consists of a l 0 /4 long bond wire attached to the center conductor of a radio frequency contact pad. To enhance the radiation gain in the desired direction a reflector, realized by four additional bond wires, was added at a distance of l 0 /4. A very good agreement between simulation and measurement was achieved. Efficient radiation in the frequency range 220 to 300 GHz with a maximum gain of 10.1 dBi at 260 GHz was verified by measurements. The measured half power beamwidth at the center frequency of 260 GHz is 15° and 84° in E-plane and H-plane, respectively. The simulations show a maximum efficiency of 88% at 240 GHz and above 65% over the full frequency range.