Annually, Michigan State's College of Engineering holds an engineering graduate research symposium where students from all departments present posters of their work and various awards are presented. One of the awards is the MSUFCU Research Translation Award. This competition, funded by a grant from the MSU Federal Credit Union, seeks to inspire students to think about commercial applications of their research and develop research posters that clearly communicate this potential, and to spark conversations and make connections between students, projects, and potential industry collaborators. A committee of judges drawn from industry representatives reviewed posters submitted to the Symposium and selected a first and second place winner. Michael won the first place prize for his poster "3D Printed High Frequency Coaxial Transmission Line Based Circuits". He is co-advised by EMRG's Dr. Premjeet Chahal and ECE Department Chair Dr. John Papapolymerou. He will be presenting an expanded version of this work again this summer at the Electronics Components and Technology Conference (ECTC) 2017 in Orlando, FL. Congratulations Michael!
Poster Abstract:
Coaxial transmission lines are among the most elementary high frequency transmission constructions. Their use is ubiquitous in RF and high frequency design and instrumentation, favored for their superior signal isolation. Furthermore, many microwave circuit components are easily implemented using coaxial structures. Filters can be designed with higher Q-factors using coaxial transmission lines as opposed to planar structures (e.g. microstrip). Since the advent of 3D printing, many microwave circuits have been demonstrated, but a coaxial transmission line has not yet been exhibited for high frequency transmission. Current implementations of coaxial transmission lines typically require a dielectric to support the signal conductor. This limits the performance of the waveguide--higher order propagating modes can appear in smaller diameter structures than equivalent air-dielectric geometries. Other implementations use more expensive subtractive manufacturing techniques. For many high frequency designs, it is impractical to use coaxial transmission lines, thus limiting the designer’s flexibility. Semi-rigid coax requires additional tooling and other available coaxial transmission lines can very quickly become prohibitively expensive. 3D printing allows for flexible designs and quick design cycles while also providing an inexpensive design solution. This poster demonstrates a 3D printed coaxial transmission line structure using polyjet printing technology and its implementation in the design of filters for operation up to 10GHz. The unique benefits that 3D printing technology provides make it well suited to address some of the current limitations of coaxial transmission line construction. These techniques provide a template for a coaxial transmission line implementation where it would otherwise not be possible.