Z-Meandering Miniaturized Patch Antenna Using Additive Manufacturing

Abstract

Additive manufacturing has been shown as a successful technology for the rapid prototyping of microwave devices and antennas. 3D printing capabilities enable design freedom with cost-effective prototype iterations, as well as exploring new 3D shapes that overcomes the 2D design constraints. In this paper, a 3D Z-meandering antenna miniaturization technique is presented. The resonance frequencies are 5 GHz and 4.6 GHz, for the 2D and 3D patch antennas, respectively, by keeping up the same ground plane and patch radius. The antennas are manufactured using fused deposition modeling of ABS and DuPont CB028 silver ink for the conductive layers.