Fabrication and characterization of Fused Deposition Modeling 3D printed mm-scaled metasurface units

Abstract: We present a cost-effective, eco-friendly and accessible method for fabricating three-dimensional, ultralight and flexible millimeter-scale metasurfaces using a household 3D printer. In particular, we fabricate conductive Spilt Ring Resonators (SRRs) in a free-standing form, employing the so-called Fused Deposition Modeling 3D printing technique. We experimentally characterize the samples through transmission measurements in standard rectangular waveguide configurations. The structures exhibit well defined resonant features dependent on the geometrical parameters and the infiltrating dielectric materials. The demonstrated 3D printed components are suitable for practical real-life applications while the method holds the additional advantage of the ecological approach, the low cost, the flexibility and the small weight of the components. Thus, the flexible and light 3D printed metasurfaces may serve as electromagnetic components and fabrics for coating a plethora of devices and infrastructure units of different shapes and size. \end{abstract}