Additive Manufacturing of 3D Printed Microwave Passive Components

Abstract

This chapter presents a comprehensive analysis of the applications of a low-cost version of additive manufacturing (AM). The technique called Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF), which makes use of plastic as raw material, is explained in the context of its applications to the microwave waveguide engineering field. The main advantages of this technology include the promptness to print models, the variety of feasible geometries, and specially the reduced cost. The main limitations are also explained. Two important applications are considered: (1) rapid prototyping of complex devices and (2) manufacturing of fully functional devices. The former is relevant to get a more realistic perspective of the actual geometry in computer-aided designs, as shown in several examples. It also helps to forecast possible issues in the fabrication process that the computer sometimes fails to detect at the design stage. In the latter case (2), the subsequent and necessary metallization of plastic devices is also addressed. Several examples of state-of-the-art passive waveguide devices are presented, including waveguide filters, a diplexer, a branch-line coupler, a load or horn antennas, which have been printed, metallized, and measured. The results show the potential of three-dimensional (3D) printing and provide a different insight into this innovative technology.

Materials research & measurement needs for ceramics additive manufacturing

“…For application in electronics, the interest is in using AM to fabricate multi‐material architectures for radiofrequency (RF) components (eg antennas), metamaterials, ceramic microelectronic packaging, sensors, etc 41 See Figure 6. Ceramic‐particle jetting, as implemented by XJet (Rehovot, Israel), is capable of printing zirconia with dielectric properties (after sintering) suitable for electromagnetic applications 42 .…”

A Band Stop to Band Pass Filter Transformation Utilizing 3-D Printing Technique for C-band Applications

“…It can be used to construct antenna models for multiband applications as in [16][17][18][19]. Additionally, there are various designs of microwave filters based on 3D printing in the RF frequency range [20][21], and the implemented BPF in [22] was operated in the E-band (60-90 GHz) of the millimetric wave frequency range, but with inconsistent simulation and experimental results due to fabrication tolerance.…”