Design, fabrication, and testing of a helical antenna using 3D printing technology

We report the design, fabrication, and measurements of a circularly polarized 3D‐printed helical antenna operating at 5 GHz. Several commercially‐available dielectric printers and materials (eg, PLA, ABS, PC) were evaluated for the fabrication process. Metallization was performed with nickel electroless plating followed by copper electroplating. Fabrication and metallization process completed within 24 hours. Maximum gain of the antenna is measured as 13.9 dBic at broadside (RHCP). Measured efficiency of the antenna is 89.1% which shows the effectiveness of our metallization process. The results demonstrate the feasibility of rapid fabrication of lightweight and high efficient antennas using 3D printer technology.