3D Printing Metallised Plastics as Terahertz Reflectors

Authors

Jarrod Colla, University of WollongongFollow
Rodney E. Vickers, University of WollongongFollow
MItchell John Bromley Nancarrow, University of WollongongFollow
R A. Lewis, University of WollongongFollow

RIS ID

136158

Publication Details

Colla, J. A., Vickers, R. E. M., Nancarrow, M. & Lewis, R. A. (2019). 3D Printing Metallised Plastics as Terahertz Reflectors. Journal of Infrared, Millimeter, and Terahertz Waves, 40 752-762.

Abstract

3D printing of new metallised plastics is investigated as a means to realise rapid creation of reflective optics for the terahertz regime. The suitability of three commercially available candidate materials was tested across a range of systems which span from 0.2 to 10 THz. Simple reflective planes were printed and characterised by spectroscopy and microscopy. Samples were polished which is shown to give a dramatic improvement to the reflectivity for these materials. The results indicate that metallised plastics have potential uses in low frequency rapid prototyping of reflective optics.