Advances in Polyjet- and Aerosoljet-printed Millimeter-wave Packages

Additive manufacturing (AM) has advanced significantly over the last decade with respect to different print technologies and hybridization of these technologies to achieve complex material layering. In addition, there have been advances made in the areas of materials, print resolution and surface finish. Microwave and millimeter wave passive circuits can now readily be printed that provide similar or better performance in comparison to their counterparts that are fabricated using traditional techniques. This presentation will highlight key advances made in this area using two 3D printing technologies: polyjet- and aerosoljet-printing. Several circuits such as waveguides, filters and couplers, and tunable elements have been investigated, and measured results show that AM holds significant potential for the fabrication of millimeter wave components directly on a wafer and as standalone structures. Both simulation and test results of several example circuits will be presented, this included both single- and multi-layer circuits.