Structures having selectively metallized regions and methods of manufacturing the same

Abstract

Methods of manufacturing a structure having at least one plated region and at least one unplated region. The method includes plating a metal on a polymer structure having a first region accepting the metal and a second region unreceptive to the metal plating. The first region may include fully-cured polymer optical waveguides and the second region may include partially-cured polymer optical waveguides. The first region may include a first polymer composition and the second region may include a second polymer composition different than the first polymer composition.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A partially metallized structure, comprising:
 a lattice structure having a plurality of layers, each layer comprising an array of unit cells each having a plurality of interconnected polymer struts;   at least one metallized region covering the polymer struts; and   at least one region of unmetallized polymer struts.   
     
     
         2 . The partially metallized structure of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one metallized region comprises a plurality of disconnected plated regions. 
     
     
         3 . The partially metallized structure of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one metallized region comprises a plurality of plated regions covering a plurality of nodes defined at intersections between the polymer struts. 
     
     
         4 . The partially metallized structure of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one metallized region extends completely across one of the layers. 
     
     
         5 . The partially metallized structure of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one metallized region comprises one or more struts extending completely across a thickness of the lattice structure.