Antenna evolution
Nearly all personal electronic devices rely on antennas to send and receive data, and demand is also rising for lightweight antennas for applications including 5G/6G networks, advanced wearable devices and CubeSats.However, standard manufacturing techniques have limited the structural complexity and use of multiple
materials that would unlock still more features and capabilities from antennas.
Now, a team led by Xiaoyu (Rayne) Zheng, associate professor of materials science and engineering, has developed a new 3D printing/additive manufacturing platform that offers “unparalleled flexibility in antenna design and the capability for rapid printing of intricate antenna structures.”
The new platform — dubbed charge programmed multi-material 3D printing (CPD) — is a universal system for rapid production of nearly all 3D antenna systems. The CPD method combines a desktop digital light 3D printer and a catalyst-based technology that can pattern different polymers at different locations where they will attract metal plating. Its auto-catalytic or selective plating technology enables the polymers to selectively absorb metal ions into prescribed locations that are defined by the desired antenna design outcome.
CPD can broadly integrate with a variety of multi-material 3D printing methods, Zheng said. “It allows essentially any complex 3D structure, including complex lattices, and has demonstrated deposition of copper with near pristine conductivity, as well as magnetic materials, semiconductors, nanomaterials and combinations of these.”
And, Zheng added, CPD can print both the conductor (metal) and dielectric materials, which is especially important for antennas to be used in extreme environments. “[Until now] there has been no technology capable of directly patterning or synthesizing the conductor and dielectric materials together.”
Aiming to advance applications for this technology, the team has formed a startup company focused on flexible medical sensors that would conform to certain anatomical structures, such as the shape of a hand.
Learn more: Tuning in to the possibilities of 3D-printed antenna technology; Ultra-light antennas via charge programmed deposition additive manufacturing (Nature Communications)