3-D printing quantization predistortion applied to sub-THz chained-function filters
OA Location
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
This paper investigates physical dimension limits associated with the low-cost, polymer-based masked stereolithography apparatus (MSLA) 3-D printer, with 50 μm pixels defining the minimum print feature size. Based on the discretization properties of our MSLA 3-D printer, multi-step quantization predistortion is introduced to correct for registration errors between the CAD drawing and slicing software. This methodology is applied to G-band 5th order metal-pipe rectangular waveguide filters, where the pixel pitch has an equivalent electrical length of 8.5° at center frequency. When compared to the reference Chebyshev filter, our chained-function filter exhibits superior S-parameter measurements, with a low insertion loss of only 0.6 dB at its center frequency of 182 GHz, having a 0.9% frequency shift, and an acceptable worst-case passband return loss of 13 dB. Moreover, with measured dimensions after the 3-D printed parts have been commercially electroplated with a 50 μm thick layer of copper, the re-simulations are in good agreement with the S-parameter measurements. For the first time, systematic (quantization) errors associated with a pixel-based 3-D printer have been characterized and our robust predistortion methodology has been successfully demonstrated with an upper-millimeter-wave circuit. Indeed, we report the first polymer-based 3-D printed filters that operate above W-band. As pixel sizes continue to shrink, more resilient (sub-)THz filters with ever-higher frequencies of operation and more demanding specifications can be 3-D printed. Moreover, our work opens-up new opportunities for any pixel-based technology, which exhibits registration errors, with its application critically dependent on its minimum feature size.
Date Issued
2022-03-28
Date Acceptance
2022-03-23
Citation
IEEE Access, 2022, 10, pp.38944-38963
ISSN
2169-3536
Publisher
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Start Page
38944
End Page
38963
Journal / Book Title
IEEE Access
Volume
10
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s). This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. For more information, see https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
License URL
Sponsor
UK Space Agency
Identifier
https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9743466
Grant Number
CT11834
Subjects
08 Information and Computing Sciences
09 Engineering
10 Technology
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2022-03-28