Corrugated horn antennas are widely used in millimeter-wave systems where precise beam shaping, low sidelobe levels, and high polarization purity are required. These benefits arise from the fine, periodic corrugation features formed along the internal horn surface — features that become increasingly difficult to manufacture as operating frequencies increase and corrugation dimensions shrink into the hundreds-of-microns regime.
The corrugated horn antennas shown in this work were manufactured by Horizon Microtechnologies using micro-precision additive manufacturing enabled by Boston Micro Fabrication’s 3D printing technology, followed by Horizon’s proprietary metallization process. BMF’s micro-AM platform enables the accurate fabrication of densely repeated corrugation features with tight pitch control, uniform depth, and excellent surface fidelity — capabilities that are extremely challenging to achieve using conventional machining at mm-wave scales.
Using micro-precision 3D printing, the full horn geometry — including internal corrugations, mode transition sections, and feed structures — can be produced as a monolithic polymer part. This eliminates alignment errors associated with split-block or assembled designs and ensures consistent corrugation geometry along the full length of the horn. The printed surfaces exhibit very lowroughness, providing an ideal substrate for subsequent metallization and minimizing RF losses once coated.
Following printing, Horizon applies a conformal, high-conductivity metallization that fully coats the internal corrugations and transition regions. Post-fabrication sectioning of a WR5-range corrugated horn confirms uniform metal deposition even deep within the corrugation grooves, demonstrating the ability of the combined BMF printing and Horizon coating process to preserve fine geometric detail throughout complex internal features.
By combining BMF’s micro-scale 3D printing accuracy with Horizon’s advanced metallization and RF-specific design for AM expertise, corrugated horn antennas can be produced with shorter lead times, reduced mass, and greater geometric freedom than is possible with conventional fabrication methods. This makes micro-precision additive manufacturing a practical, production-ready solution for high-performance mm-wave antenna systems in aerospace, satellite, and scientific instrumentation applications.
