A compact Ka-band antenna-in-package for system-in-package application

Abstract

This paper presents an improved quarter-wave patch antenna assembled in a quad-flat-no-lead (QFN) package for system-in-package (SiP) application. An improved short method is proposed to reduce the size of antenna. Moreover, the influence of the package and the wire-bond has been taken into account in the antenna optimization. It has been found that the length of the bonding wire has an obvious effect on the antenna reflection coefficient. According to the simulation results, a bonding wire length of less than 600 µm is suggested in the antenna assembly. The experimental results show that the proposed antenna operates from 34.3 GHz to 38.8 GHz, and has a gain of 4.1 dBi at 37 GHz. The size of the patch antenna is only 1.1 × 2.0 mm² (0.034λ₀²), and it is very suitable for the wire-bond based SiP application.