Rapid Prototyping of Bio-Inspired Dielectric Resonator Antennas for Sub-6 GHz Applications

Abstract

Bio-inspired Dielectric Resonator Antennas (DRAs) are engaging more and more attention from the scientific community due to their exceptional wideband characteristic, which is especially desirable for the implementation of 5G communications. Nonetheless, since these antennas exhibit peculiar geometries in their micro-features, high dimensional accuracy must be accomplished via the selection of the most suitable fabrication process. In this study, the challenges to the manufacturing process presented by the wideband Spiral shell Dielectric Resonator Antenna (SsDRA), based on the Gielis superformula, are addressed. Three prototypes, made of three different photopolymer resins, were manufactured by bottom-up micro-Stereolithography (SLA). This process allows to cope with SsDRA’s fabrication criticalities, especially concerning the wavy features characterizing the thin spiral surface and the micro-features located in close proximity to the spiral origin. The assembly of the SsDRAs with a ground plane and feed probe was also accurately managed in order to guarantee reliable and repeatable measurements. The scattering parameter S11 trends were then measured by means of a Vector Network Analyzer, while the realized gains and 3D radiation diagrams were measured in the anechoic chamber. The experimental results show that all SsDRAs display relevant wideband behavior of 2 GHz at −10 dB in the sub-6 GHz range.

Decoupling and Cloaking of Rectangular and Circular Patch Antennas and Interleaved Antenna Arrays with Planar Coated Metasurfaces at C-Band Frequencies—Design and Simulation Study

“…The decoupling and suppression of cross-band scattering in antennas is also achieved through various devices and methods, as described in [ 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 ]. Besides this, in lieu of traditional metal antennas, efforts have been focused on dielectric resonator antennas (DRAs), especially for high micro-wave and millimeter-wave spectrum applications [ 42 , 43 , 44 ]. However, this is beyond the scope of our study, wherein we deal with the reduction of mutual coupling and scattering suppression in the case of microstrip patch antennas operating at two distinct frequencies.…”

Chemical Foaming of Carbon Fiber-Polylactic Acid (CF-PLA) Porous Structures and Their Feasibility as EMI Shields in the X-Band

“…Society's lifestyle currently relies on faster telecommunications (TLC), which includes the 5G standard [1], [2] and digital support for the Internet of Things (IoT). Such a massive increase in infrastructure and devices leads to coping with electromagnetic interference (EMI) issues and EM pollution.…”

Maple-Leaf Shaped Broadband Optical Nano-Antenna with Hybrid Plasmonic Feed for Nano-Photonic Applications

“…The use of Fractal geometry to design these shapes is explored in [9], which is used by [10] to design a Spiral shell shaped antenna for the multi-band frequency operation. Additionally, it is extended to a dielectric resonator based prototype design in [11].…”