Tunable inkjet-printed slotted waveguide antenna on a ferrite substrate

In this work an inkjet-printed frequency-tunable slotted waveguide antenna on a ferrite substrate is reported. Unlike the typical substrate integrated waveguide approach with via holes, a true 3D rectangular waveguide is realized by inkjet-printing of nano-particle based conductive ink on the broad faces as well as on sides of the substrate. The operating frequency of the antenna can be tuned by applying a variable static bias magnetic field that controls the permeability of the host ferrite substrate. The antenna operates about a center frequency of approximately 14 GHz with an instantaneous impedance bandwidth of 75 MHz. A fabricated prototype has demonstrated a tuning range of 10% (1.5 GHz) using an applied bias magnetic field of 3 kOe yielding it especially attractive for tunable and reconfigurable yet low cost microwave systems.