3D-Printing of Slanted Corrugated Horn Antennas for the E-Band

In this paper, the feasibility of using additive manufacturing (AM) technologies for the fabrication of corrugated horn antennas for the E-band (60 to 90 GHz) is investigated. Stereolithography apparatus (SLA) and selective laser melting (SLM) are identified as the most suitable technologies for manufacturing horn antennas in this frequency range. To ensure good manufacturing, slanted corrugations are utilized. The antennas have a gain of 13 dBi at 72 GHz and are designed in CST Microwave Studio. For the fabrication of the plastic parts, SLA and the finer-scaled projection micro stereolithography (PµSL) technology are applied. The metal antennas are printed with direct metal laser sintering (DMLS) from the aluminum alloy AlSi₁₀Mg and the finer scaled micro metal laser sintering (µMLS) from 316L stainless steel. Overall, four antennas are fabricated. The plastic antennas are plated with copper. Dimensional tolerances and surface roughness of the antennas are evaluated. The antennas are investigated considering H-and E-plane beam shapes, input reflection, and realized gain. The measurement is conducted in an anechoic chamber using the Single-Antenna method. The µMLS antenna supplies the best results.