Frequency selective asymmetric coupled-fed (ACS) antenna using additive manufacturing

Abstract

In this study, the development of diverse antenna designs using additive manufacturing processes, specifically spanning from L-band to K-band is proposed. All designs are implemented on a flexible FR4 substrate to make them suitable for wearable sensors and biomedical applications. The fabrication process involves the utilization of aerosol jet printing with nanoparticle silver ink, followed by curing in a vacuum chamber. Additionally, screen printing with copper paste is employed as another method, with subsequent curing in a laminator. The reflection coefficient (S11) and radiation patterns for the simulated design and fabricated samples were found to align closely. The achieved return loss consistently reaching -10 dB across fairly large operating frequency range underscores the efficacy of the proposed antennas and their associated additive manufacturing mechanisms. The design and simulation were performed using Ansys high frequency structural simulator (HFSS), and the parameters under test for the fabricated antennas were validated using a vector network analyzer (VNA) to assess overall performance.