Process for the Selective Coating of a Substrate

Systems and methods for producing electromagnetic devices are provided. The systems and methods allow for an electromagnetic device having both a substrate (e.g., polymer) and conductive material (e.g., metal) to be manufactured without using masks or other outside objects disposed over a surface (e.g., the substrate) onto which the conductive material is deposited. In one exemplary embodiment, the method includes performing additive manufacturing using a polymer to produce a device having a plurality of interconnected walls and a plurality of frequency selective surface elements, and then coating portions of the device with a conductive material. A plurality of shadowing features are formed as part of one or more of the walls to protect the frequency selective surface elements from being coated by the conductive material. Other methods, and a variety of systems that can result from the disclosed methods, are also provided.