All-Dielectric Phase Correcting Surface Using Fused Deposition Modeling Technique

Abstract

This paper presents a planar all-dielectric phase-correcting surface (PCS) that can be prototyped using the low-cost fused deposition modeling (FDM) technique. The non-linear phase delay via PCS is attained by its permittivity gradient profile, which is achieved by infill variation of PREPERM ABS®450 filament in different sections. As proof of concept, such PCS is employed to improve the phase uniformity of a resonant cavity antenna. Predicted results show excellent directivity improvement of 8.5 dB equivalent to its counterpart non-planar and complex composite PCS design, but PCS height is only 1.86$\lambda$.