Applicability of 3D printing techniques for compact Ku-band medium/high-gain antennas

This paper investigates the capabilities of additive manufacturing techniques for building RF antennas in the Ku-band frequency range. Two different compact medium to high-gain antennas, a ring-focus dual-reflector antenna and a spline-profiled smooth horn antenna, were designed, built and tested for this purpose. The antennas were manufactured using the latest 3D printing techniques, i.e. based on stereolithography and an additional copper coating. RF simulation results compared with measurements are provided in this paper for a specific telecommunication antenna application. Furthermore, additional test results will be presented at the conference itself.