On the Use of Low-Cost Metallic Filaments for the Implementation of Millimeter Wave Antennas

This article presents the design and implementation of a 3D-printed pyramidal horn antenna operating at 60 GHz, using a low-cost commercial metallic filament. The study proposes new printing parameters and a sintering process for the filament that is adapted to the requirements needed for antennas in the V-band. Surface roughness and chemical material composition were analyzed to assess the viability of usage of this filament for millimeter wave applications in terms of possible introduced losses by these parameters. Finally, three antenna samples are constructed and measured, having results with good agreements when compared with full-wave simulations, confirming the feasibility of using these low-cost filaments for candidate bands of 5G communication systems.