Tunable resonator using a piston-like plunger

A new type of continuously tunable resonator is presented in this paper. This resonator is based on a parallelepipedal cavity in which a piston-shaped plunger is inserted. The TE101 resonant mode can therefore be tuned as a function of the depth of this plunger. A first proof of concept is proposed in this paper and has been experimentally validated using metal and polymer additive manufacturing. This resonator is composed of a single 3D printed body and a separated plunger. The best tuning range achieved is between 11.12 and 14.58 GHz (27%) while the best quality factor goes up to 930 using copper plated 3D printed plunger.