Abstract-Digital manufacturing, or 3D printing, is a rapidly emerging technology which enables novel designs that incorporate complex geometries and even multiple materials. In electromagnetics and circuits, 3D printing allows the dielectrics to take on new and profound functionality. This paper introduces negative uniaxial metamaterials (NUMs) which are birefringent structures that can be used to manipulate electromagnetic fields at a very small scale. The NUMs presented here are composed of alternating layers of two different dielectric materials. The physics of the NUMs are explained and simple analytical equations for the effective dielectric tensor are derived. Using these equations, the NUMs are optimized for strength of anisotropy and for space stretching derived from transformation optics. The analytical equations are validated through rigorous simulations and by laboratory measurements. Three NUMs where manufactured using 3D printing where each exhibited anisotropy in a different orientation for measurement purposes. All of the data from the analytical equations, simulations, and experiments are in excellent agreement confirming that the physics of the NUMs is well understood and that NUMs can be designed quickly and easily using just the analytical equations.

In this work, two different high-frequency filters were produced, and each was manufactured in two different ways, one using conventional PCB technology and the other using hybrid 3D printing. The hybrid 3D printing technique combined the use of microdispensing of conductive inks and fused filament fabrication (FFF) of thermoplastic substrates. Measurements, properties, and comparisons between these filters are discussed. The goal of the research was to benchmark 3D printing of highfrequency filters to more confidently manufacture sophisticated devices and high-frequency systems by hybrid 3D printing.

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3D printing is revolutionizing manufacturing and is now being considered in the electronics industry. The creation of the first 3D volumetric circuit (3DVC) has created a way to make circuits smaller, lighter, into unconventional form factors and exploit physics like anisotropy more effectively than planar geometries can. While this is exciting, many problems must be solved to make 3DVCs a reality. One of these problems is electromagnetic interference and mutual coupling between components that are expected to be highly problematic in high frequency 3DVCs. Spatially-variant anisotropic metamaterials (SVAMs) could be a solution to overcome this difficulty, but research in this area is not possible without a way to generate SVAMs around multiple components. In this paper, an algorithm is integrated into CAD software that can generate SVAMs for 3D circuits which will enable future studies of SVAMs.