Low Cost Metallization of Microwave Devices Implemented with 3D Printers

Abstract

In the present paper, several techniques for microwave devices metallization made by 3D printing are analyzed with the aim of developing a low-cost process. Our goal is to define the best technique for making passive microwave devices from standard 3D printing (FDM, Fused Deposition Modeling) to achieve low cost devices for prototypes, laboratory teaching and experimentation in general. The device response has been studied as a function of frequency and it has been found a metallization technique which is able to produce microwave devices fully operative from elements made of polymers (ABS, Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene and PLA, Polylactic Acid o Polylactide). The work presents result with simple microwave devices (short-circuits in X-band), but can be generalized to more complex ones by adapting the techniques exposed. Thank to this, an interesting line of research is opened to obtain microwave devices and prototypes at lower cost than the traditional metal-based fabrication methods.