3D printed circular polarized millimeter wave slotted waveguide antenna for 5G and 6G systems

A circular polarized slotted waveguide antenna capable of operating at Ka-band (26.5 to 40 GHz) was designed and fabricated using a stereolithography (SLA) additive manufacturing (or 3D printing) process with a Rigid 10k resin and then plated. The fabricated antenna was measured in a compact antenna range at The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU/APL), and the test results compared well with the electromagnetic simulations for both co and cross polarized gain. From these results, this antenna and fabrication process can be used to fabricate high performing circular polarized waveguide antennas at a lower cost with higher volume, when compared with conventional fabrication methods. This is ideal for next generation millimeter wave applications, such as 5G and 6G systems, where circular polarized antennas are essential for the non-terrestrial network links.