CRLH Leaky-Wave Antenna with High Gain and Wide Beam-Scanning Angle for 5G mmWave Applications

In this paper, a novel composite right-/left-handed (CRLH) leaky-wave antenna with a simple structure, low cost, high gain, and wide beam-scanning range performance for the millimeter wave (mmWave) band. The proposed antenna comprises a series-fed array of asymmetrically slotted elliptical CRLH unit cells loaded with a short-circuit stub. By optimizing the length of the stub, the condition of the CRLH structure is balanced to enable beam scanning from the backward to the forward direction within the mmWave band. The proposed antenna exhibits a wide beam-scanning angle of 112° (−60° to 52°), coupled with high gain and radiation efficiency at the designated band. Furthermore, it is fabricated on a traditional microwave substrate, Rogers RT/duroid 5880, thus offering a cost-effective approach to streamlining the manufacturing process. The measurement results confirmed a peak realized gain of 16.8 dBi. The excellent performance achieved using a low-cost design makes the proposed antenna attractive for 5G mmWave applications.