| dc.description.abstract | Additive manufacturing (AM) technologies enable fabrication of structures directly from CAD files. Due to these technologies adding material one layer at a time, complex, 3D structures can be realized. The microwave industry has utilized vari- ous AM techniques to fabricate devices including antennas, filters, and transmission lines. Unfortunately, these techniques are limited to printing a single type of mate- rial. This limitation often requires for additional processing of the devices such as metallization before they become functional.
Low temperature co-fired ceramics (LTCC) is a technology commonly used to create a variety of high-frequency devices. The main benefits LTCC devices are reliability, low loss, hermetic, multi-layer, and ability to withstand extreme tem- peratures. Current LTCC fabrication requires numerous specialized machines and is expensive for low-volume productions due to the labor intensive manufacturing process. Due to the fabrication process of LTCC, prototyping with this technology is not easily achieve.
This thesis will present an alternative to current AM techniques allowing for the realization of multi-layer, multi-material LTCC devices. The fabrication process is presented along with the devices produced. The presented process has the ability to yield rapidly prototyped LTCC devices, which has not been previously achievable. | en_US |
