3D Conductive Polymer Printed Metasurface Antenna for Fresnel Focusing

• Published in: Designs Vol. 3; no. 3; p. 46
• Main Authors: Yurduseven, Okan, Ye, Shengrong, Fromenteze, Thomas, Wiley, Benjamin J., Smith, David R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01.09.2019; MDPI
• Subjects: 3-D printers; 3D printing; Additive manufacturing; Antennas; Aperture; beam-focusing; Biodegradability; Chemical Physics; Conducting polymers; conductive polymer; Electromagnetism; Engineering Sciences; Focusing; Fresnel; Fresnel region; Magnetic fields; metamaterials; metasurface; Metasurfaces; Microstrip antennas; microwaves; near-field; Physics; Polyesters; Polylactic acid; Polymers; Radiation; Substrates; Superhigh frequencies; Three dimensional printing; United States > US
• ISSN: 2411-9660; 2411-9660
• DOI: 10.3390/designs3030046

We demonstrate a 3D printed holographic metasurface antenna for beam-focusing applications at 10 GHz within the X-band frequency regime. The metasurface antenna is printed using a dual-material 3D printer leveraging a biodegradable conductive polymer material (Electrifi) to print the conductive parts and polylactic acid (PLA) to print the dielectric substrate. The entire metasurface antenna is 3D printed at once; no additional techniques, such as metal-plating and laser etching, are required. It is demonstrated that using the 3D printed conductive polymer metasurface, high-fidelity beam focusing can be achieved within the Fresnel region of the antenna. It is also shown that the material conductivity for 3D printing has a substantial effect on the radiation characteristics of the metasurface antenna.