Method for Tackling the Variations in the Material Properties of 3D Printed Substrates for Microstrip Antennas

Zere Iman, Zubair Akhter, Atif Shamim

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

Abstract

Additive Manufacturing (AM) has been gaining popularity due to its low cost, design flexibility, and mass manufacturing capabilities. Despite the numerous advantages, 3D-printed microwave substrates suffer from a high variation (4%-8%) in the relative permittivity (εr) . Consequently, the resonant frequency (fr) of the antennas realized on these substrates can be different from its designed value, which is critical for narrowband antennas, such as microstrip patch antennas (MPAs). In this work, we present a post-fabrication method to compensate for εr variation in 3D printed substrates. In the proposed method, we introduce blind vias in the substrate to tune the frequency to its original value. Unlike other methods, here, we can shift the frequency in both directions, i.e. upwards and downwards. Through simulations and experimentation, we have shown that more than 10% shift in fr is possible in both directions and this is sufficient to compensate for the typical material variations in the 3D printed substrates.
Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publication2023 IEEE International Symposium on Antennas and Propagation and USNC-URSI Radio Science Meeting (USNC-URSI)
PublisherIEEE
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 23 2023

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