A Novel 3D-Printed High-Gain Wideband Antenna

In this paper, a novel 3D-printed high-gain wideband antenna composed of split-ring resonators, a bowl-shaped reflector, and a circular-fractal, multilayered, stacked microstrip antenna is presented. The cambered internal surface of the bowl-shaped structure is coated with sliver conductive adhesive. The microstrip antenna and split-ring resonators are installed inside and on top of the bowl-shaped structure, respectively. High gain is achieved due to the split-ring resonators and the curved reflective surface formed inside the bowl-shaped structure. At the same time, a high bandwidth is realized owing to the split-ring resonators and the microstrip antenna’s multilayered, stacked, and fractal structure. The proposed antenna is fabricated and measured. Operating within the frequency range of 5.63–6.78 GHz (reflection coefficient ≤ −10 dB), the antenna achieved a gain between 10.9 dBi and 14.6 dBi, with a peak gain of 14.6 dBi at 5.7 GHz. In addition, the antenna offers other significant advantages–low cost, low cross-polarization, and easy fabrication.