SBIR-STTR Award

In this effort, multi-materials additive manufacturing (AM) will be used to pattern custom-engineered magneto-dielectric (MD) nanocomposites, nanometal, and structural feedstock to realize reduced size conformal antennas with minimized radiation cross section (RCS). In the Phase 1 base effort, conformal microstrip patch antennas will be designed for about 2 GHz operation, using patterning of low-loss magneto-dielectric substrate materials. The antennas will be shown to be reduced in size by 50% compared to traditional antennas miniaturized solely through increased permittivity substrates. Prototype MD substrate materials will be fabricated and their electromagnetic (EM) properties characterized. The enhanced conformal microstrip patch antennas will be designed, fabricated, and tested. The antenna designs will include feeds and structural elements, made possible using multi-materials printing. We will then fabricate and characterize the performance of prototype conformal antennas. Preliminary environmental testing will also be performed.

Benefit:
Advanced antenna systems can be expected to be widely adopted in telecommunications (especially 5G, which is rapidly growing), military and defense, and healthcare. In such applications there is a need for antennas with wider impedance bandwidth, high gain, and rotatable radiation pattern, particularly in higher frequencies. For example, 5G telecommunications require ubiquitous antennas for base stations, portable devices, office intranets, and automotive applications. Military applications include RF communications for land-, air-, and sea-borne platforms, especially those requiring a reduced radiation cross-section (RCS).

Keywords:
Nanocomposite, Nanocomposite, RCS, additive manufacturing, Antenna, magneto-dielectric, radiation cross section, Conformal Antenna

To improve performance, reduce size, and minimize the radiation cross section (RCS) of conformal antennas, conformal antennas miniaturized using custom-engineered dielectric and magneto-dielectric nanocomposite materials and multi-materials additive manufacturing (AM) will be demonstrated. Engineering the effective properties of nanocomposite materials by specific concentrations and arrangement of constituent dielectric and magnetic nanoparticles provides additional degrees of design freedom for achieving desired antenna functionalities compared to those designed with homogeneous materials. Using multi-materials 3D additive manufacturing, it is further possible to enhance antenna performance by architecting mixed-material substrates, which are made up of specifically patterned nanocomposite regions, each composed of a material selected for material properties with respect to the electrical and magnetic field characteristics in that region. In the Phase II program, repeatable methods of printing nanocomposites with variable 0% to 50% (volume) nanofiller loading compositions will be demonstrated. Using a spiral development methodology, as materials are optimized, antenna designs will be optimized, fabricated, and tested. After demonstrating that the measured performance of planar antenna arrays matches the specified design intent, conformal antenna arrays will be developed, and preliminary environmental and reliability testing will be performed.

Benefit:
There is a need for antennas with wider impedance bandwidth, high gain, and rotatable radiation patterns, particularly in higher frequencies, for communications, military and defense, and healthcare applications. The overall global antenna market (both RF and mmWave), which is growing at a 6.61% CAGR and is expected to be $25.46 billion in 2023. The effect of antennas on base station communication is significantly high due to the proliferation of next-generation wireless technology. More than 80% of mobile data traffic originates or terminates indoors, and mm-length waves do not efficiently penetrate walls. As a result, the global 5G small cell market size has displayed an astounding CAGR of 81.9% over recent years and is set to reach $15.952 billion by 2026.

Keywords:
gradient index lens, magneto-dielectric, Antenna, nanotechnology, additive manufacturing, Conformal Antenna, RF, Nanocomposite