@inproceedings{d725c401d2b7449193ef71fb5400672f,
title = "Lightweight 3D printed microwave waveguides and waveguide slot antenna",
abstract = "In this work we demonstrate a lightweight 3D printed waveguide and slot antenna. The waveguide is 78% air by weight with a mass of only 2.2 g/cm which is roughly one ninth that of similar sized solid copper/bronze standard waveguide. Interior scaffolding provides structural strength with insignificant dielectric loss. A 3D Systems 5500 MultiJet printer and an acrylic photo-initiated polymer are used to fabricate the structure. This approach provides an extremely smooth surface with 100 nm root mean square surface roughness. Simulations show that a slotted waveguide antenna can achieve an efficiency of 90% with a copper coating. To demonstrate the concept a waveguide and antenna are fabricated using an easily applied but low conductivity coating. Although the coating is about 20 times less conductive than copper the antenna still achieves a good efficiency of 60%. This approach is a step towards realizing low cost lightweight waveguide microwave circuits and antennas for space born and satellite communications.",
author = "G. McKerricher and A. Nafe and A. Shamim",
note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2015 IEEE.; IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society International Symposium, APS 2015 ; Conference date: 19-07-2015 Through 24-07-2015",
year = "2015",
month = oct,
day = "22",
doi = "10.1109/APS.2015.7305050",
language = "English (US)",
series = "IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society, AP-S International Symposium (Digest)",
publisher = "Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.",
pages = "1322--1323",
booktitle = "2015 IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society International Symposium, APS 2015 - Proceedings",
address = "United States",
}