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3-D printing quantization predistortion applied to sub-THz chained-function filters

Title: 3-D printing quantization predistortion applied to sub-THz chained-function filters
Authors: Zhu, L
Payapulli, R
Shin, S-H
Stanley, M
Ridler, N
Lucyszyn, S
Item 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.
Issue Date: 28-Mar-2022
Date of Acceptance: 23-Mar-2022
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/96096
DOI: 10.1109/ACCESS.2022.3162586
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/
Sponsor/Funder: UK Space Agency
Funder's Grant Number: CT11834
Keywords: 08 Information and Computing Sciences
09 Engineering
10 Technology
Publication Status: Published
Open Access location: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9743466
Online Publication Date: 2022-03-28
Appears in Collections:Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Faculty of Engineering



This item is licensed under a Creative Commons License Creative Commons