Additive manufacturing for microwave and millimeter-wave antennas: a summary of current technology and experimentation

Abstract

Several methods of additive manufacturing are being investigated for construction of microwave and millimeter-wave antennas and electromagnetic structures. These include methods such as stereo lithography and fused deposition modeling. The impacts of surface roughness, performance of dielectric lenses, and 3D printed aperture antennas are studied. The limits and process of stereo lithography printing is assessed through experimentation using the Formlabs Form 2 printer to develop WR10 waveguide and aperture antennas operating at 94 GHz. Performance and pitfalls are reported for future consideration in exploiting and extending additive manufacturing technology for fabrication of such structures in the optical regime.