Direct-Write Dispenser Printing for Rapid Antenna Prototyping on Thin Flexible Substrates

摘要

Rapid prototyping of antennas is crucial to validation of simulation models when designing conformal antennas on unusual substrates such as polymers and textiles. This paper presents direct-write dispenser printing, using a commercial Printed Circuit Board (PCB) printer, as a simple mean of prototyping planar antennas on ultra-thin (25 $mu$ m) flexible Polyimide substrates. Two Coplanar Waveguide (CPW) monopole antennas have been designed for the 2.4 GHz band and fabricated using dispenser printing and standard photolithography. The impedance bandwidth and gain of both antennas has been compared and the printed prototype was found to match the performance of the etched antenna within a 2.6% and 2.3% margin respectively, as well as matching the full-wave 3D simulation of the connectorized antennas. Based on the measured performance of the printed antenna, the potential of utilising commercial dispenser printers to prototype and manufacture low-volume antennas for low-cost unobtrusive Internet of Things applications is demonstrated.