We report the crystallization study of CoFeB/MgO/CoFeB magnetic tunnel junctions using in-situ, time-resolved synchrotron-based x-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. It was found that the crystallization of amorphous CoFeB electrodes occurs on a time scale of seconds during the postgrowth high temperature annealing. The crystallization can be well fit by the Johnson-Mehl-Avrami model and the effective activation energy of the process was determined to be 150 kJ/mol. The solid-state epitaxy mode of CoFeB was found to involve separate crystallization at different locations followed by subsequent merging of small grains, instead of layer-by-layer growth of CoFeB film along the MgO template.

We demonstrate a new method for realizing modified Luneburg lens antennas with nearly continuously graded permittivity profiles in three‐dimensions. The method used a quasi‐conformal transformation optics (QCTO) approach to modify the geometry and permittivity of a spherical Luneburg lens to have a flat surface for convenient integration of antenna feeds. The modified lens was then fabricated using Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) printing with an effective media approach that employs space‐filling curves. The method was validated by designing and fabricating a modified Luneburg lens antenna designed to operate in the Ka‐band. The antenna performance of the sample was measured experimentally and shown to compare well to predicted results using full wave simulations. The device was able to achieve a reasonably high degree of beam steering (ie, −55° to +55°) over the entire Ka‐band. We believe this new approach provides a cost‐effective and scalable means of realizing practical passive beam steering lenses that operate over a broad range of frequencies.

In this paper the authors present a novel design tool for realizing dielectric structures with spatially varying electromagnetic properties via additive manufacturing (AM). To create tool paths ideal for AM processes, space-filling curves were utilized. Using fused deposition modeling (FDM), spatially varying structures were printed that produced a spatially varying relative permittivity. A wide range of varying fill fractions were printed and evaluated, demonstrating good agreement between the simulated and measured results. Furthermore, the authors verified that this design tool can be applied to practical structures by designing, printing and testing a gradient index flat lens.

A low-profile antenna that includes an integrated artificial magnetic conducting (AMC) ground plane is presented and is fully fabricated using multi-material additive manufacturing. It is shown that combining standard fused deposition modelling with conductive microdispensing printing enable one to realise mechanically robust antenna systems that contain spatially variable dielectric properties and intricate three-dimensional conducting networks. To illustrate this capability, a low-profile antenna is designed, fabricated, and experimentally validated, consisting of a standard 2.6 GHz half wavelength printed dipole, balun, and AMC ground plane.

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