Abstract

Abstract

Aerosol jet printing (AJP) is a promising direct-write technology that allows large stand-off distances between print head and target surface. Published works exploring AJP with conductive inks are rarely conducted at radio frequencies (RF) and so the utility of AJP in the antenna world has been limited. In this work, silver nanoink was deposited using a NanoJet™ AJP process, and the optimal printing parameters were determined by DC sheet resistance and RF conductivity measurements. A simple broadband planar inverted cone antenna (PICA) was fabricated where a minimum of 8 AJP layers was required to obtain a DC sheet resistance of 0.53 Ω/sq. and a bulk RF conductivity of 10 5 S.m−1 over the bandwidth 2.0−26.0 GHz. This work has demonstrated that AJP can be utilized to fabricate bulk microwave components with acceptable electromagnetic performance and sets a solid foundation for the manufacturing of conformal antennas in the future.

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Graphical Abstract

Details

Title
Characterization of aerosol jet printed features at microwave frequencies
Author
Cheng, Teresa 1 ; Nicholson, Kelvin J 1 

1  Defence Science & Technology Group , Melbourne , Australia 
Publication year
2025
Publication date
Dec 2025
Publisher
Taylor & Francis Ltd.
ISSN
20550340
e-ISSN
20550359
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1080/20550340.2024.2448406
ProQuest document ID
3284639606
Copyright
© 2025 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons  Attribution – Non-Commercial License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ (the "License"). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.