Laser Assisted Additive Manufacturing of CPW mm-Wave Interdigital Capacitors

A new fabrication approach for passive lumped interdigital capacitors is demonstrated for integration in microwave and mm-wave systems. Laser machining is combined with fused deposition modeling and micro-dispensing in order to enhance the performance of additively manufactured (AM) passive devices. Capacitances up to 0.3 pF and 0.5 pF are achieved at 5 GHz and 30 GHz, respectively. Measured and simulated data from different devices show maximum Q-factors and self-resonant frequencies of 750 and 120 GHz, respectively, representing a significant improvement when compared with previously demonstrated AM passive elements.