Fabricating 3D Metamaterials via Field's Metal Injection

Abstract

This report presents a recently developed fabrication method combining fused deposition modelling with Field's metal for the manufacturing of complex metal structures. First, a dielectric mold is printed using standard 3D printing methods. The mold is designed with hollow cavities, which form the desired shape of the structure's metal parts. Next, molten Field's metal is injected inside, filling the cavities and adopting their architecture. Field's metal has a low melting point of 65 degrees Celsius, which can realistically be lower than the temperature where heat deformation in numerous thermoplastic materials occurs. This method can produce metamaterial resonators with high quality factors. Numerical methods are used to model the response of the metamaterial and further investigate the resonance.