Manufacturing and Metrology of High Magnetic Permeability Materials for High Efficiency, Wideband, and Conformal RF Antennas

The critical Air Force need addressed by this effort is the enabling of high efficiency wideband (and ultrawideband) communication in a compact (conformal) form factor that minimizes (or eliminates) penalties of drag and structural reinforcement associated with conventional airborne antennas. Wideband multi-function antennas are the ideal solution to the congested spectrum problem and could lead to a reduction of the number of dedicated antennas on a platform. Low enough manufacturing cost would permit widespread deployment of the technology. This report discusses the development of a low cost, high reliability manufacturing process for Permalloy electrodeposition, which would enable the widespread use ofultra-wideband conformal antennas in a host of applications across the DoD.