An Invar Alloy SLM Printed Diplexer With High Thermal Stability

This brief presents a selective laser melting (SLM) 3-D printed Ku-band diplexer using dual-mode resonators with high thermal stability. The diplexer is designed using dual-mode dimpled ellipsoid resonators which enables the diplexer mechanically self-supported in fabrication. Hence, the design has higher compatibility with the SLM printing process and the design can be extended to multiplexers with more channels. The excellent thermal stability is benefited from both the 4J36 invar alloy material with a lower coefficient of thermal expansion (C.T.E) as well as the tailored SLM printing process. Electrical and thermal performances of the diplexer are measured, showing that the fabricated diplexer is with average insertion losses of 0.69dB/0.42dB, return losses of >14dB, and centre frequency shifts of 5.62MHz/3.75MHz (<0.04%) in the two channels after copper plating. The measured frequency shift is less than 0.5 MHz over 100°C temperature change, which is equivalent to a C.T.E of 0.5 ppm.