Additively Manufactured Slotted Waveguides for THz Applications

This work demonstrates the feasibility of monolithic additively manufactured slotted waveguides in combination with electroless silver plating and electroplating for applications up to 500 GHz. Waveguides in two different orientations have been manufactured exploiting conventional desktop DLP printers, enabling new possibilities for additively manufactured waveguide components in the THz frequency range. The measured attenuation levels are comparable to those of conventionally manufactured split-block waveguides. Moreover, it is suggested, that polarization dependent surface roughness should be taken into account for predictive simulations of the electrical behavior of complex 3D printed components. The results allow for the exploitation of additive manufacturing design freedom for further prospectively highly complex geometries at THz frequencies.