Innovative manufacturing technology for RF Passive devices combining electroforming and CFRP application

In this paper an innovative manufacturing technology is presented that combines electroforming and CFRP (carbon fiber reinforced plastic) application and thus could be an enabling technology to achieve tuningless lightweight RF passive hardware with complex geometries. In order to demonstrate the performances achievable with this manufacturing process, a highly sensitive 0.14% fractional bandwidth dual mode filter centered at 19.8 GHz was fabricated and tested. The flange interface of the filter was an integral part of the hardware and the total weight four times lighter than an equivalent part made from INVAR.