Mm-wave sensors with 3D printed photonic bandgap materials

Additive manufacturing has become increasingly advanced and the number of applications in which it finds use is expanding as it allows to produce a final product in a reasonable time and limited resources. The increase in resolution of 3D printers, as well as the multitude of materials that can now be used for the production has opened various applications in new fields, such as telecommunication and sensors. The aim of this thesis is to analyze the possibility of creating fully dielectric resonators with the resolution offered by commercial 3D printers. The trade off between resolution and operational frequency range is carefully analyzed in order to engineer reproducible devices. In particular, photonic crystals are used to engineer and test a novel low-cost sensing device operating in the mm-wave frequency band (26 – 40 GHz). The proposed structure has been proved to be a reliable platform for testing quickly the dielectric permittivity of powders with high accuracy.