Additive manufacturing of low cost and efficient proof of concepts for microwave passive components

• Published in: IET microwaves, antennas & propagation Vol. 11; no. 14; pp. 1997 - 2004
• Main Authors: Laplanche, Etienne, Feuray, William, Sence, Johann, Perigaud, Aurélien, Tantot, Olivier, Delhote, Nicolas, Menudier, Cyrille, Arnaud, Eric, Thevenot, Marc, Monédière, Thierry, Passerieux, Damien, Verdeyme, Serge, Bila, Stéphane, Baillargeat, Dominique, Carpentier, Ludovic
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: The Institution of Engineering and Technology 19.11.2017
• Subjects: antenna; broadband antenna; broadband antennas; coupler; filter; frequency 12 GHz to 22 GHz; frequency 36 GHz; metallisation; microwave antennas; microwave filters; microwave passive component; millimetre wave antennas; millimetre wave filters; mode converter; passive filters; plastics; polymer additive manufacturing; polymer jetting; polymers; power divider; power dividers; rapid prototyping (industrial); silver paint; Special Issue: Microwave Components and Antennas Based on Advanced Manufacturing Techniques; three‐dimensional plastic printer; three‐dimensional printing; waveguide couplers; waveguide filters; waveguiding structure; antenna; waveguide filters; frequency 12 GHz to 22 GHz; passive filters; metallisation; mode converter; polymer jetting; millimetre wave filters; three-dimensional printing; polymers; millimetre wave antennas; polymer additive manufacturing; waveguide couplers; frequency 36 GHz; microwave antennas; plastics; broadband antenna; coupler; broadband antennas; power dividers; filter; three-dimensional plastic printer; power divider; microwave passive component; microwave filters; silver paint; waveguiding structure; rapid prototyping (industrial)
• ISSN: 1751-8725; 1751-8733; 1751-8733
• DOI: 10.1049/iet-map.2017.0157

A study on the passive microwave components made by polymer additive manufacturing (polymer jetting) is presented. Different types of components (waveguides, couplers, power dividers, filters and antennas) are designed to be made in a single part. Using a simple and cost-effective metallisation by applying silver paint, various prototypes with complex geometries have been manufactured to evaluate these proofs of concept and the robustness of the low-cost approach to make microwave components. Different measurements show that the obtained filters can provide an acceptable unloaded Q factor of 400–500 for the operating frequencies of 12–22 GHz. Waveguiding structures such as a mode converter, which is used as a broadband antenna, have also notably efficiently worked up to the Ka band (36 GHz). Due to a remarkable accuracy of nearly 80 µm, the obtained results of the proposed coupler, power divider and antennas are consistent with the full wave simulations, which prove that the currently available three-dimensional plastic printers can provide notably accurate prototypes to design original components.