Cost-effective wideband dielectric planar lens antenna for millimeter wave applications

Abstract

This article presents a fully 3D-printed dielectric planar lens operating in the entire Ka-band manufactured using additive manufacturing and a relatively low-cost 3D-printer. The lens consists of ten concentric rings implemented using low-loss ABS filaments with high permittivity values. By varying the infill percentages of them the required refractive indexes of each section are achieved. An additional 3D-printed matching layer, using the same manufacturing and design method was included in the lens, to reduce reflections. Simulation and measurement results show a very good agreement, which confirms the possibility of manufacturing a cost-effective broadband and planar lens solution operating in millimeter wave bands, where Low Earth Orbit Satellites (LEO) networks, future mobile communication systems (5G, 6G) and radar systems operate.

High gain low profile horn array with circular polarization using a 3D printed anisotropic dielectric composite material at 38 GHz

“…Moreover, the polarizer does not add any extra losses as it can be seen by the gain measurement where for both cases with polarizer (CP) and without it (LP), the gain at the broadside remains almost constant, having only a 0.3 dB difference between the case with polarizer and the case without the polarizer. This was expected as previous works in the same frequency band reported similar results in terms of losses 4 , 34 .…”

“…One drawback of increasing the operational frequency for the communication systems is that propagation losses increase, and therefore there is a need to implement solutions that can compensate this issue, for instance by increasing the directivity of the radiating elements. To this aim, solutions such as antenna arrays and lens antennas have been proposed in the literature 3 , 4 . One particular solution that can be used with the objective of being integrated into base stations where directional antennas are needed, is the use of waveguide slot arrays 5 .…”

3D Printed Directive Beam-Steering Antenna Based on Gradient Index Flat Lens With an Integrated Polarizer for Dual Circular Polarization at W-Band

“…As the GRIN lens is rotationally symmetric in XY plane, a scan range of ±30º is achieved for both azimuth and elevation planes. Scan losses vary from 0.2 dB for dx0y2 and dx2y0 to a maximum of 3.8 dB for the extreme steers, dx0y8 and dx8y0, which is similar to the scan losses exhibited by other dielectric lenses, such as [5] and [6]. Main beam directions for dx0y0, dx0y2/dx2y0, dx0y4/dx4y0, dx0y6/dx6y0 and dx0y8/ dx8y0 are  = 0º/90º and 𝜃 = 0º, 8º, 15º, 22.5º and 30º, respectively.…”

Experimental Proof-Of-Concept of a Spatial Photonic Switch Based on an Off-Axis Zone Plate in Millimeter Wavelength Range

“…The material used is an ABS plastic REC rod with a diameter of 1.75 mm. The refractive index of the material according to the data [29] is n ≈ 1.59 and can be slightly varied by choosing the density of 3D printing [30]. Note that at such geometrical parameters of the mesoscale WZP, the Mie-size parameter of the structure is q = π DW / λ = 31 π that falls into the range of the photonic jet effect manifestation [31].…”