A simple electroless plating solution for 3D printed microwave components

Using a modified version of the Tollens' Test, acrylate-based polymer prints made using a consumer-grade Digital Light Projection Stereolithographic (DLP-SLA) 3D printer are successfully silver plated, without the need for complex surface preparation techniques. A single-piece prototype waveguide design is used for testing the plating process, and a discussion is provided on minimizing printing process variables such as polymerization shrinkage and undesirable geometric tolerance variance. Measurement results of plated WR-10 1-inch waveguide sections show reflection coefficients of less than −21dB and an insertion loss of less than 0.53dB, which are comparable to similar studies using specialized plating and split-block designs. Furthermore, this approach shows great potential in providing an affordable passive microwave component rapid prototyping solution for research environments.