Investigation of 3D printed electrically small folded spherical meander wire antenna

Abstract

The radiation properties and fabrication precautions of a 3D printed, electrically small folded spherical meander wire monopole antenna are investigated. The antenna is self-resonant and shows sufficiently high radiation efficiency at an electrical size ka of 0.4, with the radiation quality factor Q approaching the lower physical bound. In antenna fabrication, the possible structural deformation due to gravity is examined before the antenna frame is 3D-printed. The required conductivity is achieved by multiple manual paintings of a silver paste. The radiation efficiency and pattern show very good agreement with the computed expectations, whereas the resonant frequency deviates by 11.8%. The method to minimize such a fabrication error when using 3D printing technology for wire antennas is discussed.