Dielectric electromagnetic structure and method of making the same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11637377-B2
Application number	US-201917299513-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 22, 2019
Priority date	Dec 4, 2018
Publication date	Apr 25, 2023
Grant date	Apr 25, 2023

Abstract

A method of making a dielectric, Dk, electromagnetic, EM, structure, includes: providing a first mold portion comprising substantially identical ones of a first plurality of recesses arranged in an array; filling the first plurality of recesses with a curable first Dk composition having a first average dielectric constant greater than that of air after full cure; placing a substrate on top of and across multiple ones of the first plurality of recesses filled with the first Dk composition, and at least partially curing the curable first Dk composition; and, removing the substrate with the at least partially cured first Dk composition from the first mold portion, resulting in an assembly having the substrate and a plurality of Dk forms including the at least partially cured first Dk composition, each of the plurality of Dk forms having a three dimensional, 3D, shape defined by corresponding ones of the first plurality of recesses.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method of making a dielectric, Dk, electromagnetic, EM, structure, comprising:
providing a first mold portion comprising substantially identical ones of a first plurality of recesses arranged in an array;
filling the first plurality of recesses with a curable first Dk composition having a first average dielectric constant greater than that of air after full cure;
placing a substrate on top of and across multiple ones of the first plurality of recesses filled with the first Dk composition and at least partially curing the curable first Dk composition; and
further comprising:
prior to providing the first mold portion, providing a first pre-mold portion comprising substantially identical ones of a second plurality of recesses arranged in the array, each one of the second plurality of recesses being larger than a corresponding one of the first plurality of recesses;
filling the second plurality of recesses with a curable second Dk composition having a second average dielectric constant that is less than the first average dielectric constant and greater than that of air after full cure;
placing a second pre-mold portion on top of the first pre-mold portion, the second pre-mold portion having a plurality of openings arranged in the array and in a one-to-one correspondence with each one of the second plurality of recesses;
placing a third pre-mold portion on top of the second pre-mold portion, the third pre-mold portion having a plurality of substantially identical ones of projections arranged in the array, the substantially identical ones of the projections being inserted into corresponding ones of the openings of the second pre-mold portion, and into corresponding ones of the second plurality of recesses, thereby displacing the second Dk material in each one of the second plurality of recesses by a volume equal to at least a portion of the volume of a given projection;
pressing the third pre-mold portion toward the second pre-mold portion and at least partially curing the curable second Dk composition;
separating the third pre-mold portion relative to the second pre-mold portion to yield a mold form having the at least partially cured second Dk composition therein that serves to provide the first mold portion, and establishes the step of providing a first mold portion comprising substantially identical ones of a first plurality of recesses arranged in an array; and
removing the substrate with the at least partially cured first Dk composition and the at least partially cured second Dk composition from the first mold portion, resulting in an assembly comprising the substrate and the plurality of Dk forms comprising the array of the at least partially cured first Dk composition and the corresponding array of the at least partially cured second Dk composition, each of the plurality of Dk forms having a 3D shape defined by corresponding ones of the first plurality of recesses and the second plurality of recesses.

2. The method of claim 1 , subsequent to placing the substrate on top of and across multiple ones of the first plurality of recesses filled with the first Dk composition, and prior to removing the substrate with the at least partially cured first Dk composition from the first mold portion, further comprising;
placing a second mold portion on top of the substrate;
pressing the second mold portion toward the first mold portion and at least partially curing the curable first Dk composition; and
separating the second mold portion relative to the first mold portion.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the substrate comprises: a Dk layer; a metal layer; a combination of a Dk layer and a metal layer; a metal layer having a plurality of slots, each one of the plurality of slots disposed in a one-to-one correspondence with a filled recess of the plurality of filled recesses; a printed circuit board; a flexible circuit board; or, a substrate integrated waveguide, SIW; or, an EM signal feed network.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the plurality of Dk forms comprise a plurality of dielectric resonator antennas, DRAs, disposed on the substrate.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the plurality of Dk forms comprise a plurality of dielectric resonator antennas, DRAs, comprising the first Dk composition disposed on the substrate, and a plurality of dielectric lenses or dielectric waveguides comprising the second Dk composition disposed in one-to-one correspondence with the plurality of DRAs.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the second pre-mold portion comprises a plurality of relatively thin connecting channels that interconnect adjacent ones of the second plurality of recesses, which are filled during the step of displacing the second Dk material in each one of the second plurality of recesses by the volume equal to at least a portion of the volume of a given projection, thereby resulting in the assembly comprising the substrate and the plurality of Dk forms, along with a plurality of relatively thin connecting structures interconnecting adjacent ones of the plurality of Dk forms, the relatively thin connecting structures comprising the at least partially cured second Dk composition, the relatively thin connecting structures and the filled second plurality of recesses forming a single monolithic.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of filling the first plurality of recesses, filling the second plurality of recesses, or filling of both the first and the second plurality of recesses further comprises:
pouring and squeegeeing a flowable form of the respective curable Dk composition into the corresponding recesses.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of filling the first plurality of recesses, filling the second plurality of recesses, or filling of both the first and the second plurality of recesses further comprises:
imprinting a flowable dielectric film of the respective curable Dk composition into the corresponding recesses.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of at least partially curing the curable first Dk composition, at least partially curing the curable second Dk composition, or at least partially curing of both the curable first Dk composition and the curable second Dk composition, comprises:
curing the respective curable Dk composition at a temperature equal to or greater than about 170 degree Celsius for a time duration equal to or greater than about 1 hour.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the first average dielectric constant is equal to or greater than 5, alternatively equal to or greater than 9, further alternatively equal to or greater than 18, and equal to or less than 100.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the curable first Dk composition comprises 1,2-butadiene, 2,3-butadiene, isoprene, or a homopolymer or copolymer thereof, an epoxy, an allylated polyphenylene ether, a cyanate ester, optionally a co-curable crosslinking agent, and optionally a curing agent.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein:
the curable first Dk composition further comprises an inorganic particulate material, preferably wherein the inorganic particulate material comprises titanium dioxide (rutile and anatase), barium titanate, strontium titanate, silica (including fused amorphous silica), corundum, wollastonite, Ba 2 Ti 9 O 20 , solid glass spheres, synthetic hollow glass spheres, ceramic hollow spheres, quartz, boron nitride, aluminum nitride, silicon carbide, beryllia, alumina, alumina trihydrate, magnesia, mica, talcs, nanoclays, magnesium hydroxide, or a combination thereof.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the 3D shape has an outer cross-section shape, as observed in an x-y plane

Assignees

• Rogers Corp

Inventors

• Taraschi Gianni
• Pance Kristi
• O'Connor Stephen
• Brown Christopher
• Polidore Trevor
• Horn Iii Allen F
• Baars Dirk
• George Roshin Rose
• Duperre Jared
• Pandey Shailesh
• Sprentall Karl E
• Williams Shawn P
• Blasius William

Classifications

• H01Q9/0485 Primary

  Dielectric resonator antennas · CPC title

• H01Q21/061

  Two dimensional planar arrays · CPC title

• H01Q21/0087 Primary

  Apparatus or processes specially adapted for manufacturing antenna arrays (manufacturing waveguides H01P11/00) · CPC title

• H01P7/10

  Dielectric resonators · CPC title

• H01P1/2084

  with dielectric resonators · CPC title