Additive Manufacturing of a Compact 3D Dipole Antenna Using ABS Thermoplastic and High Temperature Carbon Paste

This paper describes a novel method for of three dimensional (3D) printed electromagnetic structures by using additive manufacturing (AM) technology with emphasis on the antenna as an essential component in every wireless communication system. To demonstrate this technique, a dipole antenna has been designed, simulated, and fabricated to work at the center frequency of 3 GHz. The substrate part of the antenna has been fabricated utilizing a desktop 3D printer. Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) thermoplastic has been used for the fabrication of the substrate part. A high temperature carbon paste has been utilized to implement the conducting part of the antenna. The measurement results demonstrate that the proposed method can be a good candidate for the additive manufacturing of 3D embedded antennas.