Using DLP 3-D Printing for Additive Manufacturing of Millimeter-Band Waveguides and Slow-Wave Structures

Development of upper-millimeter or sub-THz radiation sources is of great importance for numerous applications in communications, radar, spectroscopy, etc. For fabrication of miniaturized electromagnetic components, novel precise, rapid, and cost-effective technologies are required. In this paper, we present the results of microfabrication of millimeter-band electromagnetic structures using digital-light-processing (DLP) 3-D printing and subsequent metallization by magnetron sputtering. V-band and W-band rectangular waveguides were fabricated, as well as more complicated periodic grating slow-wave structures. Characterization of the fabricated structures was performed by using surface morphology studies and scanning electron microscopy. Cold-test electromagnetic measurements reveal good transmission properties of the fabricated structures.