A Direct-Write Printed Antenna on Paper-Based Organic Substrate for Flexible Displays and WLAN Applications

• Published in: Journal of display technology 2010-11, Vol.6 (11), p.558-564
• Main Authors: Anagnostou, Dimitris E, Gheethan, Ahmad A, Amert, Anthony K, Whites, Keith W
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Antenna; Antenna measurements; Antennas; Area measurement; Dielectric loss measurement; Dielectric substrates; direct-write; Display devices; Displays; Electronic devices; Fabrication; Flexibility; flexible display; Gain; inverted-F -antenna (IFA); Local area networks; Loss measurement; Paper technology; Technological innovation; Wireless communication; Wireless LAN; WLAN
• ISSN: 1551-319X; 1558-9323
• DOI: 10.1109/JDT.2010.2045474

This paper presents the design, fabrication and measurements of a direct-write printed low-cost and flexible inverted-F antenna on an ultra-low-cost paper-based organic substrate for wireless local area network (WLAN) and flexible display applications. Innovations include the study and utilization of paper as a high-frequency substrate for the first time in the gigahertz (GHz) range, the fabrication technology for the direct-write printing of the antenna as a flexible RF electronic device, and the investigation of antenna flexibility in conjunction with flexible displays. Although paper substrates exhibit relatively high dielectric losses (tanδ ~ 0.065 at 2.45 GHz), the maximum realized gain of the fabricated antenna is measured to be + 1.2 dBi giving a total efficiency ~ 82%. Simulated results of the antenna's return loss and radiation patterns agree well with the measurements, and can lead to a whole new class of flexible low-cost electronic devices of the future.