Fully Inkjet-Printed RF Passive and Active Devices
Inkjet printed antennas and microwave devices on flexible and organic substrates, such as paper, have the advantages of being light weight, low cost, and environmentally friendly.
Overview
Fully inkjet-printed 3D objects with integrated metal provide exciting possibilities for on-demand fabrication of radio frequency electronics such as inductors, capacitors, and filters. This work provides a process beyond 2D inkjet printing of the conductor on a standard support substrate; the metal is truly integrated into the printed dielectric to build quality multilayer RF capacitors and inductors with crossover interconnects. A major advancement is the low processing temperature (80 ºC) of the novel Silver-Organo-Complex (SOC) ink, which overcomes the major challenge of temperature processing compatibility between the printed conductor and dielectric. The SOC ink is cured with a low-cost IR lamp in only 5 minutes while providing a state-of-the-art conductivity of 1x107 S/m, which is necessary for conductivity-sensitive RF filter applications.
