Department of Electrical Engineering, Group of Signal Theory and Communications, Universidad de Oviedo, 33203, Gijón, Spain.
Instituto de Telecomunicações, Instituto Superior Técnico, 1049-001, Lisbon, Portugal.
Sci Rep. 2023 Jul 7;13(1):10998. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-38247-x.
A wideband dual-reflector 3D-printed antenna is proposed to operate in the mm-Wave band. The design is based on a Cassegrain reflector optics but including a dielectric piece for merging the feeding system and the support structure of the subreflector. The operational principle of this antenna is presented, as well as the design parameters. Then, a prototype to operate at Ka-band is manufactured combining a 3D-printed technique using PLA as printable material and a spray to coating the antenna, providing a low-cost affordable solution. The different pieces of the antenna are evaluated, and the antenna is also measured in a spherical compact range. An excellent agreement between simulations and measurements is obtained, resulting in a [Formula: see text] of operational bandwidth. These results validate the use of coating procedures and the design technique at these demanding frequencies. Its operation shows a stable gain in the entire Ka-band (including [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text]), which makes the antenna as a suitable light, low-cost, and broadband solution for mm-Wave applications.
提出了一种工作在毫米波频段的宽带双反射面 3D 打印天线。该设计基于卡塞格伦反射器光学原理，但包括一个介电片，用于合并馈电系统和副反射器的支撑结构。本文介绍了该天线的工作原理和设计参数。然后，结合使用 PLA 作为可打印材料的 3D 打印技术和喷涂涂覆天线，制造了一个工作在 Ka 波段的原型，提供了一种经济实惠的解决方案。对天线的不同部分进行了评估，并在球形紧缩场中对天线进行了测量。仿真和测量结果吻合较好，得到了 [Formula: see text] 的工作带宽。这些结果验证了在这些高要求频率下使用涂覆工艺和设计技术的可行性。其工作性能在整个 Ka 波段（包括 [Formula: see text] 和 [Formula: see text]）都显示出稳定的增益，这使得该天线成为毫米波应用的一种适合的、轻便、低成本、宽带的解决方案。
