Investigation of 3D Additive Manufacturing toward Arbitrary Electromagnetic Structures

该提案旨在开发新型3D打印（也称为增材制造）技术，用于广泛的微波频率应用，包括无线通信，遥感，高速计算等。尽管有人认为3D打印可能是制造业的未来，但这些方法在创造功能性电子产品方面的潜力和适用性，特别是那些在射频/微波频率下工作的电子产品，这些电子产品是许多应用的关键组件，在很大程度上仍未被探索。在先进的微波组件和系统可以以3D方式打印之前，需要解决许多限制。其中，缺乏具有理想微波性能的可打印材料以及集成高质量导电成分的挑战是一些主要问题。本研究将探索一些新颖的想法，以解决微波应用中增材制造的这些突出问题。拟议的工作将及时为增材制造领域做出贡献，并使全功能微波组件和系统的3D打印成为可能。这项研究还将对科学、工程和人类社会的进步产生重大而广泛的影响。研究成果将有助于下一代制造技术的新方面，并推进最先进的3D打印微波电子技术。预期的结果可能会为消费者、生物医学、航空航天和国防工业提供完全可定制的、高价值的多功能产品。同时，还将实施包括研究生和本科生研究人员积极参与的综合研究教育计划。工程课程不仅将在两所参与的大学得到加强，而且还将通过关于增材制造技术的新课程和新教科书（将在网上和课堂上提供）、公开研究研讨会和本科高级顶点项目，为更大的社区提供加强。该教育计划将通过定期举办课堂/产业研讨会和参加技术会议，为社会提供更广泛的教育范围。此外，将强调向代表性不足的群体伸出援手，特别针对大学和当地K-12学校的妇女和少数民族。预计拟议的教育部分将为先进制造业的劳动力提供及时的培训，这对国家具有重大意义。拟议研究的目标是推进增材制造技术，使微波组件和系统的3D打印成为可能。目前3D打印技术中使用的大多数材料的设计或选择都只考虑了机械性能，因此限制了它们在微波应用中的适用性。在导电油墨印刷得到广泛应用的同时，所需要的高温退火工艺往往与被制造对象的非导电部分不兼容。在这个项目中，将研究和开发基于新型聚合物基质复合技术的具有强大电磁性能的3D打印材料，以获得更好的电磁性能，如更大的介电常数和磁响应范围。通过超声波或热埋和激光焊接金属丝和热塑性塑料等材料内的细间距网格，将开发和完善用于高质量（即良好射频导电性）导体增材制造的3D打印技术。基于这些新技术，实用的微波元件（即具有垂直互连的传输线，线和贴片天线等）将被设计，印刷和测试。此外，还将研究具有优异性能的新型三维梯度指数（GRIN）超材料器件（即扁平吕尼堡透镜成像仪）。

This proposal seeks to develop novel 3D printing (also called additive manufacturing) technology for a broad range of microwave frequency applications including wireless communication, remote sensing, high speed computing, etc. Although it has been argued that 3D printing could be the future of manufacturing, the potential and applicability of these methods for creating functional electronics, especially those operate at RF / microwave frequency which are critical components for many applications remain largely unexplored. A number of limitations need to be resolved before advanced microwave components and systems can be printed in a 3D fashion robustly. Among them, the lack of printable materials with desired microwave properties and the challenges in integrating high quality conducting constituents are some of the main issues. This proposed research will explore several novel ideas to address these outstanding issues of additive manufacturing for microwave applications. The proposed work will contribute timely to the additive manufacturing field and enable 3D printing of fully functional microwave components and systems. This research will also have significant broader impacts to the advancement of science, engineering and human society. The research results will contribute to novel aspects of next generation of manufacturing technology and advance the state-of-the-art of 3D printed microwave electronics. The expected outcome may enable fully customizable, high value, multi-functional products for the consumer, biomedical, aerospace and defense industries. A concurrent and integrated research education plan including active participation of both graduate and undergraduate student researchers will also be carried out. Engineering curriculum will be enhanced not only at the two participating universities but also for the bigger community through a new course and new textbook on Additive Manufacturing Technology (to be offered online as well as in classrooms), open research seminars, and undergraduate senior Capstone projects. The proposed education program will provide a broader education scope in the society by holding regular classroom / industrial seminars and attending technical conferences. Moreover, outreach to underrepresented groups will be emphasized specifically targeting women and minorities at both universities and at local K-12 schools. It is expected that the proposed education component will provide timely training of work force in advanced manufacturing which is of great national importance.The objective of the proposed research is to advance additive manufacturing technology to enable 3D printing of microwave components and systems. Most of the materials used in 3D printing technology currently are designed or selected with only mechanical property in mind, thus limiting their applicability to microwave applications. While conductive ink printing has been widely applied, the high temperature annealing process required is often not compatible to the non-conducting part of the objects to be manufactured. In this program, 3D printable materials with robust electromagnetic properties will be investigated and developed based on a novel polymer matrix compound technique to obtain improved EM properties such as larger range of dielectric constant and magnetic response. 3D printing technique for additive manufacturing of high quality (i.e., good RF conductivity) conductors by ultrasonic or thermal embedding and laser welding metallic wires and fine-pitch meshes within materials such as thermoplastics will be developed and refined. Based upon these new techniques, practical microwave components (i.e., transmission line with vertical interconnects, wire and patch antennas, etc.) will be designed, printed and tested. In addition, novel 3D gradient index (GRIN) metamaterial-based device (i.e., a flattened Luneburg lens imager) with superior performance will be investigated.