Dielectric Resonators Antennas Potential Unleashed by 3D Printing Technology: A Practical Application in the IoT Framework

Abstract

One of the most promising and exciting research fields of the last decade is that of 3D-printed antennas, as proven by the increasing number of related scientific papers. More specifically, the most common and cost-effective 3D printing technologies, which have become more and more widespread in recent years, are particularly suitable for the development of dielectric resonator antennas (DRAs), which are very interesting types of antennas exhibiting good gain, excellent efficiency, and potentially very small size. After a brief survey on how additive manufacturing (AM) can be used in 3D printing of antennas and how much the manufacturing process of DRAs can benefit from those technologies, a specific example, consisting of a wideband antenna operating at 2.4 GHz and 3.8 GHz, was deeply analyzed, realized, and tested. The obtained prototype exhibited compact size (60 × 60 × 16 mm3, considering the whole antenna) and a good agreement between measured and simulated S11, with a fractional bandwidth of 46%. Simulated gain and efficiency were also quite good, with values of 5.45 dBi and 6.38 dBi for the gain and 91% and 90% for the efficiency, respectively, at 2.45 GHz and 3.6 GHz.

Additively Manufactured Antennas and Electromagnetic Devices

“…Results like those obtained by using PREPERM filaments can also be achieved by using lab-made filaments, exploiting PLA or ABS as the matrix and barium titanate or other ferroelectric powders as the doping agent. An example of this approach is described in [29], in which a novel design for a wideband and low-profile DRA operating between 2.45 GHz and 3.75 GHz is designed and tested. The use of the aforementioned lab-made filaments allows the proposed shape to be developed easily while reducing costs and limits related to traditional manufacturing technologies.…”

Gain Enhancement and Cross-Polarization Suppression of Cavity-Backed Antennas Using a Flared Ground Cavity and Iris

“…It is worth mentioning that the cavitybacked configuration is applicable to many other antennas beyond the metallic open prism presented here. Therefore, the enhancement techniques investigated in this work have the potential to be applied to a wide range of antennas, e.g., dielectric resonator antennas [19][20][21], patch antennas [6], and horns [22]. Sections 2 and 3 demonstrate several numerical studies on critical parameters in the two designs, which achieve optimal antenna performance, i.e., maximum gain enhancement with largest impedance/cross-polarization overlapping bandwidths.…”

Copper Composites and Laser Sintering: Novel Hybridization Method for 3D Printed Electronics

“…In the age of information, when sensors are incorporated in common objects to make them interactive and adaptable for the internet of things, directly integrating electronic components into a three‐dimensional (3D) printed object remains challenging. [ 4 ] The 3D printing processes for thermoplastics used in mechanical structures, and those for the metals required for electronic interconnections are very different. In particular, most metal‐printing methods involve high temperatures (>1000 °C), which are incompatible with common thermoplastics.…”

“…In the age of information, when sensors are incorporated in common objects to make them interactive and adaptable for the internet of things, directly integrating electronic components into a three-dimensional (3D) printed object remains challenging. [4] DOI: 10.1002/admt.202201900…”