Direct Printing of Antennas on Large 3D Printed Plastic Structures

A new method of integrating passive components on large non-planar parts (example, automotive bumpers) using conductive spray inks and a shadow mask coupled with a damascene-like process is presented. The sprayed conductive ink acts as a catalyst for electro- or electroless-plating of copper. Structures with fine resolution can readily be printed using this process. A Vivaldi antenna operating in the V-band is demonstrated on a 3D printed scaled down automotive bumper. The proposed method is simple, reduces waste, and can readily be adopted in the integration of passive components on large plastic structures, especially for automotive applications. Details of design, fabrication, and measurement are presented.