Demonstration and charaterization of fully 3D-printed RF structures

In this paper an approach to fully 3D print Radio-Frequency (RF) components and devices, with commercial, low-cost platforms, is presented. The manufacturing methodology and materials are described, while ring resonators and microstrip lines are used to characterize the materials up to 8 GHz. The substrate used is Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS), which has been demonstrated to have a permittivity of 2:8 and losses of 0:02, with the printing settings adopted in this work. The metals are made with a low cost copper (Cu) paint, commonly employed in EM shielding; its conductivity is demonstrated to be 1e5 S/m. Results related to a fully 3D printed patch antenna working at 10 GHz, are shown.