Electroforming assembly - new technology for manufacturing components and units of communication and navigation systems

A set of millimeter-wave components and devices made by multilayer electroforming is presented. It is shown that the proposed technology makes possible quasi-monolithic multifunctional devices for communication facilities. The basic requirements for the microwave system of spaceborne equipment both for research and satellite communication are small mass and size, low cost and high reliability. Our technology based on multilayer electroforming in combination with electroforming assembly which has repeatedly proved its efficiency makes possible large-scale integration of multifunctional microwave devices. Its distinctive feature is a special electro-depositing regime that provides a fine-grain structure and high plasticity of the metals, and reusable knock-down matrices provide not only high manufacturing accuracy, but also the identity of the electrical parameters of the devices being manufactured. Besides, electroforming assembly makes possible monolithic multifunctional modules without any butt joints, the waveguide wall thickness being only 200 to 300 μm as opposed to several millimeters in conventional structures thus offering far smaller mass and size of the device as a whole.