EDT Research areas

3D printing or additive manufacturing is now commonplace and simple printers can be purchased for several hundred pounds. We focus on how 3D printed components can be used in microwave circuits to make new, novel microwave circuits. We collaborate on the manufacturing process and post printing processes to improve the microwave performance. We have demonstrated high performance devices from 0.5 GHz to above 300 GHz.

Polymer/ceramic 3D printed microwave filters and couplers

Metal 3D printed filters and OMT

3D Printed Invar filters with high temperature stability

Experiments with various alloys

3D Printed antennas and arrays: E-band horn with integrated polariser; G-band corrugated horn; Ku-band dual-pol array; X-band filtering antenna.

125 GHz frequency-doubler in 3D printed waveguide housing (polymer)

355 GHz 3D-printed (polymer) multi-beam lens antennas

High-precision metal 3D printing: 60 GHz twist filter; 180 GHz filter; 165/183 GHz diplexer

Capabilities:

• Fixed beam Antennas for SatCom (Wideband dual-pol array, low profile/light, multiband)
• Phased array Antennas for SatCom (Low cost, wide scanning)
• 5G backhaul applications (Low sidelobe, ETSI Class 2,3,4 compliant)
• Components (Antennas, OMTs, couplers, Filters)

Ultra-wideband CST Antenna (BW>60%, H>87%)

Wideband dual-pol slot array (BW~23%, XPD~44 dB, isolation>51 dB, Gmax=25.5 dBi)

Dual-band shared-aperture VICTS

Ku/K/Ka tri-band shared-aperture waveguide CTS array

An ultra-wideband, low-profile waveguide antenna array

A dual-band shared-aperture dual-pol array for Satcom

Gallium-based LMs

Microfluidics on PCB

Liquid metal transmission lines

Low-dispersion, low-loss tunable phase shifters based on a via-pad-slot (VPS) structure

LM-enabled scanning phased array with reflective phase shifters

Functionally-reconfigurable coupler (from a hybrid-coupler to a cross-over) with a SPDT switch

Filtering switches & switchplexers

Quad-polarisation-reconfigurable arrays

Terahertz radiation is electromagnetic radiation with a frequency above the radio frequency (RF) and microwave region and extending towards the optical range. It is an area of the electromagnetic spectrum which is under-used at the moment due to the difficulties in producing practical components and systems. However, it is widely understood that terahertz will be important in the future for many applications. Our research focuses on the design and testing of terahertz circuits.

47.5 to 142.5 GHz bias-less frequency tripler with a 15 GHz output bandwidth

Zero-bias Diode Power Detector for D-band

A 300 GHz comms link with in-house designed mixers, multipliers and lens antennas

Our thin-film power sensors are filling a capability gap in sub-THz power metrology in Europe and have been commercially used.

110-170 GHz Power Sensor, 200 Ohn (higher band design available)

110-170 GHz Thin-film Bolometer as Transfer Standard

The microwave industry is dependent upon passive circuits such as filters, multiplexers, antennas and many other components. We work to develop new types of passive circuits primarily based on the coupling of resonators. We have pioneered the development of new topological structures and advanced synthesis methods for complex multi-port filtering networks. Some examples can be found below. The same principles can also be applied to non-electromagnetic resonators, for example, acoustic or even mechanical resonators and filters.

A generic multi-port filtering network

An all-resonator multiplexer

A 4th-order filtering antenna array

A multiplexer with a resonant manifold

A filtering six-port junction

A filtering Butler-matrix

Concept of Integrated Filtering Antennas

A 3rd order filtering antenna

Dual-band filtering antenna

Dual-Band Dual-polarized filtering antenna/array

Duplexer-antenna

Dual-band filtering CP array

Filter-active-circuit co-design

Concept: use couple-resonator-filter approach to match complex loads, which can be an amplifier, an oscillator, or any band-limited circuits

Filter-amplifier co-design: ‘active coupling matrix’

Air-filled transmission line and waveguide technology is a desirable choice for mm-wave and terahertz devices, mainly due to its low loss characteristics. The conventional way of making waveguide components is CNC milling. However, with the increase in the frequency it becomes more and more challenging to machine the small features and sometimes it is impossible to achieve complicated internal structures. We have employed various high-precision micromachining and microfabrication techniques for such purposes. Among them are the silicon deep reactive ion etching (Si-DRIE), the thick SU8 photoresist micromachining (a low-cost process), the fs-laser micro processing, the high-precision 3D printing alongside the ultra-precision CNC milling. We have constructed waveguides up to 700 GHz, creating a waveguide structure as small as 380 by 191 microns.

Ultra-high-precision CNC milling (a 150 GHz six-port junction)

Si-DRIE (deep reactive ion etching)

SU8 Micromachining (a 300 GHz waveguide slot array)

Femtosecond-laser micro process (a 300 GHz frequ4ency selective surface, or mesh filter)

Micromachined Butler-matrix array (38 GHz)

Micromachined filters (60 GHz)

For further details please contact Professor Yi Wang.