Institute Of Engineering & Management

(Department of Electronics and Communication Engg.)

Studies of Rectangular Dielectric Resonator Antenna using

Coaxial Feed

Project Guide-Mr. Arunava Mukhopadhyay

Group Members
1.Ananya Sengupta
2.Padmanava Ray
3.Rupam Kalyan Chakraborty
Abstract
In this project, the design of rectangular dielectric resonator antenna (RDRA) with coaxial
probeand microstrip line feed arrangements and corresponding return loss vs. frequency
characteristics using finite element method (Ansoft High Frequency Structure Simulator) is
presented.The results of present work may provide design guidelines for the development of
efficient RDRA using coaxial probe and microstrip line as feeds.

1.Introduction
In 1939 Richtmyer first demonstrated that dielectric objects can resonate in various modes.He
appropriately named these structures Dielectric Resonators (DRs) since they can act similarly
as metallic cavity resonators. At the early stage research on DR was influenced by the hypothesis
that DRs are strictly energy storage devices. The theoretical studies of DRs in the 1960s led to
impressive progress in magnitude of applications including oscillators,amplifiers and
filters.Compared to other types of resonators, DRs offer advantages of compact size,lower
cost,lower weight,material availability and ease of manufacturing.

Richtmyer also mentioned that if a DR is placed in a free space,it must radiate due to the
boundary conditions at the interface between dielectric and air.This provided the fundamental
theory of the later invented Dielectric Resonator Antenna (DRA). Long et al. Firstly proposed
the concept of using DR as a radiator in 1983. In that seminar paper, a cylindrical DR was
demonstrated to provide efficient radiation in the direction normal to its ground plane. Since then
extensive research has been carried out on analyzing DRA shapes,resonant modes,radiation
characteristics and excitation schemes. The result of these investigations have delighted the
attractive features of DRAs.

2.Advantages Of DRAs
DRAs offer a high degree of flexibility and versatility over a wide frequency range,
allowing for designers to suit many requirements. DRAs offer the following advantages:

 DRAs come in simple geometries like circular cylinder, hemisphere, rectangular

etc. are readily available and can be easily fabricated.
 The DRA size is proportional to λ0/εr1/2where λ0 is the wavelength at resonant
frequency and εr is the dielectric constant of the DR. Thus for the same frequency
there is a natural reduction in size, compared with their conventional counterparts
like microstrip antennas. Also, different values of εr(ranging from 4 to 100) can
be used, thus allowing the designer the flexibility in controlling the size and
bandwidth.
 Depending on the resonator shape, various modes can be excited within the DRA
element. These modes can produce different radiation patterns for various
coverage requirements. Also, the Q-factor of some of these modes will depend on
the aspect ratio of the DRA, thus allowing one more degree of flexibility in the
design.
 Many of the existing feeding schemes can be used (slots, probes, microstrip,
coplanar waveguides, dielectric image guide, etc.). This makes them easy to
integrate with existing technologies.
 Compared with the microstrip antenna, DRA has a much wider impedance
bandwidth. This is because the microstrip antenna radiates only through two
narrow radiation slots, whereas the DRA radiates through the whole antenna
surface except the grounded part. Moreover the operating bandwidth of a DRA
can be varied by suitably choosing the dielectric constant of the resonator
material and its dimensions.
 DRAs have been designed to operate over a wide frequency range (1 GHz to 44
GHz) compared with other antennas existing in the literature.
 DRAs have a high dielectric strength and hence higher power handling capacity.
Moreover the temperature-stable ceramics enable the antenna to operate in a wide
temperature range.
 There is no inherent conductor loss for a DRA. High radiation efficiency is thus
possible in case of DR antennas. It is especially attractive for high frequency
millimeter wave applications, where the loss from metallic antennas can be high.

3.Fabrication of the Dielectric Resonator

The DR is fabricated through the mixed oxide or solid state route which is a time
consuming process, involving many steps such as Mixing and Grinding, Calcination
process, Pellet shaping, Sintering process and Surface finishing. During these processes
we can minimize the free energy of the material and redistribute the atoms. The
minimization involves the reduction of internal surface area and an increase in the grain size.

DRAs of various shapes. The photo shows cylindrical, rectangular,

hemispherical, low-profile circular-disk, low-profile triangular, and
spherical-cap DRAs
4. DIELECTRIC WAVEGUIDE MODEL FOR RECTANGULARDRAs
To model the dielectric resonator antenna, the waveguide is truncated along the z direction at
±d/2, as shown in Figure 2.3b, with magnetic walls. This model can be used for an isolated DRA
in free space (with dimensions a, b, and d), or as is used in practice, for a DRA (with dimensions
a, h=b/2, and d) mounted on a ground plane, as shown in Figure 2.3c. In this latter case, image
theory was used to remove the ground plane and double the height of the DRA.

Field Configuration
For a rectangular DRA with dimensions a, b >d, the lowest order mode will be
TEz11δ. Using the dielectric waveguide model, this leads to the following fields
within the DRA
mπ nπ
kx= a ----(1) , ky= b -----(2) here m,n=1

kx2+ky2+ kz2=εrk02-------(3) (kx, ky, kz are the wave numbers corresponding to x,y,z)
kz tan ( kzd/2)= ((εr-1) k02- kz2)1/2--------(4)
f c
0 = 2 π k0
Hx=A(kxkz/jωμ0) sin(kxx) cos(kyy) sin(kzz)
Hy=A(kykz/jωμ0) cos(kxx) sin(kyy) sin(kzz)
Hz=A(( kx2+ky2)/jωμ0) cos(kxx) cos(kyy) cos(kzz)
Ex=Aky cos(kxx) sin(kyy) cos(kzz)
Ey=-Akx sin(kxx) cos(kyy) cos(kzz)
Ez=0
Resonant Frequency
To solve for the resonant frequency of the DRA, (1), (2) and (3) are first substituted into (4), and
this transcendental equation is solved for kz. The resonant frequency can then be obtained by
solving for k0in (4). The above equations have been used to plot the curves in Figure below.
These curves plot the normalised frequency (F) versus the ratio of DRA dimensions d/b for
various ratios of a/b. The normalised frequency is defined as:
Normalized frequency F
F=(2πf0/c) εr1/2

Quality factor
Q=2ωWe/Prad
We= (ε0εrabd/32)(1+sinc(kzd))( kx2+ky2)
Prad=10k04|pm|2
pm=(-jω8ε0(εr-1)/(kxkykz)) sin(kzd/2) ^z

The impedance bandwidth (BW) of the DRA can be estimated from the radiation
Q-factor using:

BW=(S-1)/(QS1/2)

where S is the maximum acceptable voltage standing-wave ratio (VSWR). The above equations
were used to generate the graphs in Figure below. These graphs plot the normalised Q-factor
(Qe) as a function of the DRA dimensions d/b for various values of dielectric constant and
various values of a/b. The normalised Q-factor is
defined as:
Qe=Q/ εr3/2
5.Feeding Methods
There are several techniques available to feed or transmit electromagnetic energy to a
dielectric resonator antenna. The five most popular feeding methods are the coaxial probe, slot
aperture, microstrip line, co-planar coupling and dielectric image guide.
5.1 Coaxial Feed
The Coaxial feed or probe feed is a very common technique used for feeding dielectric
resonator antennas as shown in figure 4.1. In this method, the probe can either be placed adjacent to
the DRA or can be embedded within it. The amount of coupling can be enhanced by adjusting the
probe height and the DRA location. In DRA, various modes can be excited depending on the
location of the probe,. For the probe located adjacent to the DRA, the magnetic fields of the TE11δ
mode of the rectangular DRA are excited and radiate like a horizontal magnetic dipole. For a probe
located in the centre of a cylindrical DRA, the TE011 mode is excited and radiating like a vertical
dipole. Another benefit of using probe coupling is that one can couple directly into a 50Ω system,
without the requirement for a matching network. Probes are suitable at lower frequencies where
aperture coupling may not be applied due to the large size of the slot required [2].
5.2 Slot Aperture
In slot aperture method, a DRA is exciting through an aperture in the ground plane upon
which it is placed. Aperture coupling is applicable to DRAs of any shapes such as rectangular,
cylindrical or hemispherical. The aperture works like a magnetic current running parallel to the size
of the slot, which excites the magnetic fields inside the DRA. The aperture type of feeding consists
of a slot cut in a ground plane and fed by a microstrip line below the ground plane. For avoiding
spurious radiation, feed network is located below the ground plane. Moreover, slot coupling is an
attractive technique for integrating DRAs with printed feed structures. The coupling level can be
changed by moving the DRA with respect to the slot. Generally, a high dielectric material is used
for the substrate and a thick, low dielectric constant material is used for the top dielectric resonator
patch to optimize radiation from the antenna. The main drawback of this feed technique is that it is
problematic to fabricate due to multiple layers, which also increases the antenna thickness. This
feeding method also provides narrow bandwidth (up to 21%) [2].

5.3 Microstrip Line Feed

In this type of feed technique, a conducting strip is connected directly to the edge of the
patch as shown in figure 4.3. A common method for coupling to dielectric resonators in
microwave
circuits is by proximity coupling to microstrip lines. Microstrip coupling will excite the magnetic
Antenna Design & Simulation in Ansoft HFSS
using equations (1)-(4) we have computed resonant frequency with the help of MATLAB while
the dimensions of the RDRA and the permitivity of the dielectric material is given.

Ansoft HFSS software is a CAD tool used to construct and simulate the antenna structure.
Antenna return loss is plotted in dB with frequency sweep 1GHz to 30GHz.

1.First the probe position is kept constant and probe length is varied. The resonant frequency is
shifted left as probe length is increased.

2.Next the probe length is kept constant and probe position is varied , the resonant frequencies
are observed to be shifted towards left side. And the loss at resonance is first gradually decreased
and after a certain distance from origin the loss increases.

Antenna Structure

The top views of the geometry of RDRA with coaxial probe and microstrip line feeds are shown
in Fig. 1 (a) and (b) respectively. The RDRA in each case consists of a dielectric resonator
antenna having dimensions 10.56.09.6mm3 and material dielectric constant εr = 20 located
on a 5050mm2 ground plane acting as support for the antenna as well

The probe fed RDRA is excited by a coaxial probe of length ‘L’ and diameter ‘g’ (= 1.3 mm)
which is kept at a distance ‘s’ from the antenna. As the coupling to RDRA can be adjusted by
varying the length and position of the probe, extensive simulations are carried out using HFSS
software.
The variations in return loss with frequency for different probe lengths using the microwave
studio and HFSS softwares are respectively shown
Probe length optimization: Position (6,0)
Probe Position Optimization: h=7.5 m.m
Conclusion
We have completed the initial part of the project. Placing the coaxial cable in different positions
we have got the graphs shown above. The graphs clearly shows the variation of S parameter with
frequency. Now we are are looking forward how to improve the bandwidth and the radiation loss
of the antenna.

Future Work
  Since the impedance bandwidth of Dielectric resonator antenna can be enhanced by using
multiple DRAs (stacked, embedded and DRA array), design of dielectric resonator antenna arrays
using embedded technique, will be carried out in future.
 Besides, the experience of designing DRAs with microstrip line feeding with conformal patch,
Dielectric resonator antenna array with dielectric image guide feeding can further be designed
to minimize the metallic losses.

References
1. Dielectric Resonator Antennas: From Multifunction Microwave Devices to Optical Nano-
Antennas by Longfang Zou.
2. Dielectric Resonator Antennasby K.M Luk and K.W. Leung- Research Studies Press
3. Comparative Studies of Rectangular Dielectric Resonator Antenna with Probe and Microstrip
line Feedsby Ravi Kumar Gangwar, S. P. Singh, D. Kumar.
4. Darko Kajfez and Pierre Guillon, Editors, Pierre Guillon-Dielectric Resonators-SciTech
Publishing(1998)
5. The History of the Development of the Dielectric Resonator Antenna-Stuart A. Long and
Ellen M. O’Connor
6. DIELECTRIC RESONATOR ANTENNA - POSSIBLE CANDIDATE FOR ADAPTIVE ANTENNA
ARRAYS---Darko Kajfez and Ahmed A. Kishk