A Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) Transparent Fresnel Zone Lens Antenna at Ku-Band for Satellite Communication
This work presents the design of a transparent Fresnel-zone lens antenna fabricated from Polydimethylsiloxane, also known as PDMS or dimethicone, a polymer widely used for manufacturing and prototyping microfluidic chips. The antenna operates in the Ku band at 15 GHz. Specifically, a 3D-printed polylactic acid (PLA) mold is created and filled with PDMS to obtain the lens structure. The PLA mold can be used multiple times to produce different lens prototypes. An antenna prototype has been designed, fabricated, and assessed numerically and experimentally, demonstrating the capabilities and potential of the proposed design and production methodology.
Authors
- Viviana Mulloni (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8194-805X)
- Sreedevi K. Menon (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3953-4950)
- Irene Dal Chiele (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-4982-058X)
- Massimo Donelli (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9477-9243)
- Giada Marchi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9582-1834)
Institutions
- University of Trento (IT)
- Fondazione Bruno Kessler (IT)
- Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham (IN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Electronics
- Published
- 2025-09-24
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics14193766
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Advanced Antenna and Metasurface Technologies
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 4.99