3D Printed high functional density packaging compatible out-of-plane antennas

This paper demonstrates a simple, low-cost additive manufacturing technique for fabricating structures compatible with high-density packaging solutions. Leveraging the third dimension (z-axis), several out-of-plane (non-planar) antennas that are compatible with multi-layer integration are presented, including an elevated vertical mount patch antenna, an air-gap based E-Patch antenna, a monopole with a corner reflector, and a vertical Yagi-Uda antenna. A T-line resonator is characterized to understand the transmission line losses associated with the vertical bends. Details of the simulation, fabrication, and measurements are presented. Simulations are carried out using ANSYS High-Frequency Structure Simulator (HFSS (R)), and structures are fabricated using a polyjet printing process. The measured results are in good agreement with the simulation results, and overall a good performance is achieved for all the antenna designs. For example, the elevated vertical mount patch shows a gain of 3.62 dBi (center frequency of 5.4 GHz), and the air-gap E-patch antenna shows a gain of 6 dBi at 2.4 GHz and 10 dB bandwidth of 4.9 GHz. The vertical monopole antenna with a corner reflector shows a peak gain of 7.3 dBi at 6 GHz, and the Yagi-Uda antenna shows a forward gain of 6 dBi at 5 GHz.