Dielectric prism antenna

3D printing is revolutionizing the development and manufacturing of devices. Currently multi-material 3D printing, like metals plus dielectrics, is in the early stages and not very accessible. This work set out to develop an all-dielectric antenna that could be 3D printed with current widely accessible 3D printing technologies. The antenna developed is an all-dielectric ultra-thin antenna with a simple geometry. The antenna radiates by using total internal reflection and a circulating mode operating as a leaky whispering gallery mode. We are calling the antenna the dielectric prism antenna because it acts like an optical prism. The dielectric prism antenna was developed in stages with increasing complexity. First, a one dimensional simulation of a slab waveguide analysis was performed to answer if a usable guided mode was present. Then a two dimensional simulation using finite-difference frequency domain method to visualize steady state fields. The design of the antenna was finalized in a rigorous 3D simulation with the commercial software package, ANSYS HFSS. The antenna was then manufactured and tested resulting in a dielectric prism antenna with a thickness of 1.5 mm operating at 2.4 GHz