Ultra-light antennas via charge programmed deposition additive manufacturing

Zhen Wang; Ryan Hensleigh; Zhenpeng Xu; Junbo Wang; James JuYoung Park; Anastasios Papathanasopoulos; Yahya Rahmat-Samii; Xiaoyu Rayne Zheng

doi:10.1038/s41467-024-53513-w

Ultra-light antennas via charge programmed deposition additive manufacturing

Nat Commun. 2025 Jan 8;16(1):427. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-53513-w.

Authors

Zhen Wang^#^{1

2}, Ryan Hensleigh^#², Zhenpeng Xu^#^{1

2}, Junbo Wang^#³, James JuYoung Park¹, Anastasios Papathanasopoulos³, Yahya Rahmat-Samii⁴, Xiaoyu Rayne Zheng^{5

6

7}

Affiliations

¹ Advanced Manufacturing and Metamaterials Laboratory, Department of Material Science and Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA.
² Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
³ Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
⁴ Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA. [email protected].
⁵ Advanced Manufacturing and Metamaterials Laboratory, Department of Material Science and Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. [email protected].
⁶ Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA. [email protected].
⁷ Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA. [email protected].

^# Contributed equally.

PMID: 39779685
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-53513-w

Abstract

The demand for lightweight antennas in 5 G/6 G communication, wearables, and aerospace applications is rapidly growing. However, standard manufacturing techniques are limited in structural complexity and easy integration of multiple material classes. Here we introduce charge programmed multi-material additive manufacturing platform, offering unparalleled flexibility in antenna design and the capability for rapid printing of intricate antenna structures that are unprecedented or necessitate a series of fabrication routes. Demonstrating its potential, we present a transmitarray antenna composed of an interconnected, multi-layered array of dielectric/conductive S-ring unit cells, reducing 94% mass of conventional antenna configurations. A fully printed circular polarized transmitarray system fed by a source and a Risley prism antenna system operating at 19 GHz both show close alignment between testing results and numerical simulations. This printing method establishes a universal platform, propelling discovery of new antenna designs and enabling data-driven design and optimizations where rapid production of antenna designs is crucial.