3D Printing as a Rapid Prototyping Approach for Novel RF Cavity Designs

TL;DR

This paper explores the use of 3D printing combined with metal coating to rapidly prototype RF cavity resonators, offering a flexible and cost-effective alternative to traditional manufacturing methods.

Contribution

It demonstrates the feasibility of fabricating multi-mode GHz RF cavities using 3D printing, various plastics, slicing methods, and metal coatings, with experimental validation.

Findings

Successful fabrication of 3D-printed RF cavities with copper coating

Identified advantages and limitations of different fabrication approaches

Demonstrated practical performance of sliced painted cavity design

Abstract

3D-printing of radiofrequency (RF) cavity resonators could provide a cost-effective solution that enables rapid prototyping and design flexibility compared to traditional fabrication of full-metal cavities. In this work, the feasibility of fabrication of a useful multi-mode GHz cavity is explored. Two kinds of plastics, two slicing approaches and two metal coating techniques were used to build a series of clamped cavities with thin inner copper surface on otherwise 3D printed plastic surface. The cavities were then bench-tested to identify spatial field distributions, operating frequencies and quality factors (Q-factor). Pros and cons of the used fabrication approaches were identified and understood, and the performance of longitudinally sliced painted cavity design demonstrated considerable practicality of 3D-printing approach in designing rf systems.