3D-Printed Multi-Metal Antennas With Enhanced Bandwidth

This publication by Li M. et al. presented novel single-substrate multi-metal layer antennas fabricated using an additively manufactured electronics method, which harnesses piezoelectric additive fabrication. The study discusses the design and performance of antenna prototypes and arrays with a 3D-printed vertical stacking of metal layers on a single substrate, resulting in significant bandwidth improvement and an extremely low profile. Detailed analyses are included for multi-layer linear polarization patch antenna elements as well as 2 × 2 LP antenna arrays, illustrating how integrating the feeding network within the same substrate maintains the array's size and profile without compromise. The findings indicate substantial enhancements in impedance bandwidth for the developed LP patch antennas compared to traditional single-layer counterparts. Furthermore, circular polarization patch antenna elements and arrays were investigated, confirming that the multi-layer approach achieves broader bandwidths and frequency ranges. This research emphasizes the applicability of these antennas in meeting ultra-low profile and wideband requirements, particularly in sub-6GHz 5G consumer electronics applications.