3D printed helix antenna

The goal of this paper is to show the possibility of fabricating helix antennas with incorporated reflector up to mm-wave frequencies by additive manufacturing. As an example, a monofilar helix for a center frequency of 11 GHz was manufactured additively on a PEEK substrate by using an aerosol jet printing system. Measurements affirm a gain of approximately 5.6dBi with an axial ratio below 3 dB over more than 1 GHz of bandwidth. Furthermore, the effects of mechanical tolerances on the fabricated antenna's performance are analyzed and the future potential of the proposed fabrication approach is highlighted.