Photoresist-based polymer resonator antennas with permanent frame

Abstract

Photoresist-based polymer resonator antennas (PRAs) with permanent frame have been fabricated and measured. High-aspect-ratio frames were precisely fabricated by deep exposure lithography and subsequently filled with ceramic-polymer microcomposites. The antenna was fed by a slot on the ground plane and effects of the photoresist frame on antenna characteristics were investigated. Reflection coefficients of the antenna with/without frame are compared. The high-aspect-ratio photoresist frames with very low permittivity may have minimal impact of less than 1% on output antenna parameters. The frame-based PRAs can be precisely and inexpensively built with any shape using LIGA, an extension of deep lithography in combination with replication, which makes large-scale fabrication economically feasible.