Slot-Notch Mechanism Enabled Circularly Polarized High Gain Antenna for 5G mm-Wave RF Energy Harvesting

This article describes the design of a slot-notch mechanism-enabled broadband and high-gain microstrip antenna fed by a microstrip line for fifth-generation (5G) millimeter-wave applications. The antenna is designed using Rogers 4003 substrate having a relative permittivity of 3.38, thickness of 0.8 mm, and fed by a 50 Ω microstrip line. The suggested design comprises a rectangular patch with a rectangular slot at the center. Further, two open-ended rectangular notches at the upper edges and two rectangular-shaped stubs at the lower edges are included to achieve the desired requirements. The antenna is resonant at 32.6 GHz, exhibiting |S ₁₁ | around − 24.8 dB over a bandwidth of 1.5 GHz (31.7–33.2 GHz) and offering a maximum gain of 7.2 dBi. Circularly polarized radiation is achieved at 32.6 GHz with a 3-dB axial ratio bandwidth of 0.5 GHz (32.4–32.9 GHz). The antenna is fabricated and its simulated results are validated experimentally. Subsequent comparative analysis revealed that the proposed antenna is almost 60% more compact than similar designs reported in the literature.