A novel 3D-printing-enabled “roller coaster” transmission line

A novel transmission line design, which takes advantage of the unique manufacturing capabilities of additive-manufacturing technologies (AMTs), is introduced. The “roller coaster” transmission line, with a thickness and width-modulated microstrip line, displays an expected electromagnetic bandgap (EBG) and an additional simulated 43dB rejection than its 2D counterpart. A prototype of this novel 3D structure was additively-manufactured using a combination of stereolithography (SLA) 3D-printing and aerosol jet printing. The measured performance of the “roller coaster” line, displaying an EBG from about 6GHz to 14GHz with a maximum rejection of 32dB, is shown. This reported 3D design presents one of the first examples of a functional RF structure that can be exclusively manufactured using AMTs. With the demonstrated advantage of this 3D structure, compared to its exact 2D counterpart, the reported design shows the unique landscape of opportunities offered by AMTs for the fabrication of novel RF components and systems.