Fabrication of microstrip patch antenna using novel hybrid printing technology

Abstract

In this article, a novel hybrid printing technology that realizes a microstrip patch antenna is introduced. The proposed hybrid printing technology uses both two-and three-dimensional (2D and 3D) printing technologies. The antenna's dielectric materials are built using a 3D printer. The metallic pattern is printed using a commercial inkjet printer. Polylactic acid (PLA) is used for the filament of the 3D printer and silver nanoparticle ink is printed on paper using the inkjet printer. For a highly efficient antenna design with lossy PLA material, the mesh PLA is printed and its electromagnetic parameters are characterized. Finally, the printed patch antenna shows a return loss of 24 dB and a peak gain of 7 dBi at 1.9 GHz. (C) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.