RFID Printed Antenna Technology and Application Value
2022-11-12
Three RFID Antenna Manufacturing Technologies
RFID antenna manufacturing technology mainly includes etching method, coil winding method and printed antenna. Among them, RFID conductive ink printed antenna is a new technology developed in recent years.
The above manufacturing methods of RFID tag antennas are respectively applicable to RFID electronic tag products of different frequencies. The low-frequency RFID electronic tag antenna is basically made by winding, and the high-frequency RFID electronic tag antenna can be realized by the above three methods, but the etched antenna is mainly used, and its material is generally aluminum or copper, and the UHF RFID electronic tag antenna is Mainly printed antennas.
The etching method is also known as the subtractive fabrication technique. The production process is as follows (taking a copper antenna as an example): first, a flat copper foil is laminated on a plastic film; then a photosensitive adhesive is coated on the copper foil, and after drying, a positive film (a pattern with a desired shape) is applied to the film. It is illuminated; put into a chemical developer, at this time, the illuminated part of the photoresist is washed away, exposing the copper; finally, it is placed in the etching pool, and all the copper that is not covered by the photoresist is etched away, so as to obtain the desired shape. copper coil.
Because of its high precision, the etched printed antenna can match the interrogation signal of the reader. At the same time, the impedance of the antenna and the radio frequency performance applied to the item are very good, but its only disadvantage is that the cost is too high.
When using the coil winding method to make RFID tags, it is necessary to wind the tag coil on a winding tool and fix it. At this time, the number of turns of the antenna coil is required to be large (the typical number of turns is 50-1500 turns). This method is used for RFID tags in the frequency range of 125-134 KHz, and its disadvantages are high cost and slow production speed.
Printed antenna is to directly use conductive ink to print conductive lines on insulating substrates (films) to form antennas and circuits, also known as additive manufacturing technology. The main printing methods have expanded from only screen printing to offset printing, flexographic printing, gravure printing and other production methods, and the more mature production processes are screen printing and gravure printing technology. The advancement of printing technology and its further application in the production of RFID antennas have reduced the production cost of RFID tags, thereby promoting the application of RFID electronic tags.
Compared with etched and wound antennas, the printed antenna itself has the following unique features:
1. The manufacture of printed antennas can more accurately adjust the electrical performance parameters and optimize the performance of the card.
The main technical parameters of RFID tags are: resonance frequency, Q value and impedance. In order to achieve optimum performance, all RFID tag manufacturing techniques can be achieved by varying the number of antenna turns, antenna size and wire diameter. Printed antenna technology can also be precisely adjusted to the desired target value by locally changing the width of the line, changing the thickness of the wafer layer, etc.
2. The shape of the coil can be arbitrarily changed in the manufacture of the printed antenna to meet the surface processing requirements of the user.
For the multi-purpose use of RFID cards and more and more personalized requirements, the printed antenna can be easily changed into any shape as required, such as object surfaces with different curvatures and angles to meet customer requirements without reducing any Use performance.
3. The printed antenna can use a variety of different card base materials.
The printed antenna can use different card body materials according to user requirements, in addition to PVC (polyvinyl chloride), PET-G (copolyester), PET (polyester), ABS (acrylonitrile-butadiene-benzene) can also be used ethylene copolymer), PC (polycarbonate) and paper-based materials, etc. If the winding technology is used, it is difficult to use materials such as PC to produce RFID tags suitable for harsh environmental conditions.
4. The manufacture of printed antennas is suitable for chip modules provided by various manufacturers.
With the widespread use of RFID tags, more and more IC chip manufacturers have joined the team to produce RFID chip modules. Due to the lack of a unified standard, the electrical performance parameters are also different, and the flexibility of the printed antenna structure can be matched with various chips and modules with different packaging forms to achieve the best performance.
Summarize
RFID (Radio Frequency IdenTIficaTIon) radio frequency identification technology has now become the focus of attention of various countries, and the basic components of its system include RFID electronic tags, RFID readers and antennas. Among them, the antenna is a device that receives or radiates the radio frequency signal power of the radio transceiver in the form of electromagnetic waves. In the RFID system, the antenna is divided into two types: tag antenna and reader antenna. The goal of the tag antenna is to transmit maximum energy into and out of the tag chip: when transmitting, it converts high-frequency current into electromagnetic waves; when receiving, it converts electromagnetic waves into high-frequency current.
RFID antenna manufacturing technology mainly includes etching method, coil winding method and printed antenna. Among them, RFID conductive ink printed antenna is a new technology developed in recent years.
The above manufacturing methods of RFID tag antennas are respectively applicable to RFID electronic tag products of different frequencies. The low-frequency RFID electronic tag antenna is basically made by winding, and the high-frequency RFID electronic tag antenna can be realized by the above three methods, but the etched antenna is mainly used, and its material is generally aluminum or copper, and the UHF RFID electronic tag antenna is Mainly printed antennas.
The etching method is also known as the subtractive fabrication technique. The production process is as follows (taking a copper antenna as an example): first, a flat copper foil is laminated on a plastic film; then a photosensitive adhesive is coated on the copper foil, and after drying, a positive film (a pattern with a desired shape) is applied to the film. It is illuminated; put into a chemical developer, at this time, the illuminated part of the photoresist is washed away, exposing the copper; finally, it is placed in the etching pool, and all the copper that is not covered by the photoresist is etched away, so as to obtain the desired shape. copper coil.
Because of its high precision, the etched printed antenna can match the interrogation signal of the reader. At the same time, the impedance of the antenna and the radio frequency performance applied to the item are very good, but its only disadvantage is that the cost is too high.
When using the coil winding method to make RFID tags, it is necessary to wind the tag coil on a winding tool and fix it. At this time, the number of turns of the antenna coil is required to be large (the typical number of turns is 50-1500 turns). This method is used for RFID tags in the frequency range of 125-134 KHz, and its disadvantages are high cost and slow production speed.
Printed antenna is to directly use conductive ink to print conductive lines on insulating substrates (films) to form antennas and circuits, also known as additive manufacturing technology. The main printing methods have expanded from only screen printing to offset printing, flexographic printing, gravure printing and other production methods, and the more mature production processes are screen printing and gravure printing technology. The advancement of printing technology and its further application in the production of RFID antennas have reduced the production cost of RFID tags, thereby promoting the application of RFID electronic tags.
Compared with etched and wound antennas, the printed antenna itself has the following unique features:
1. The manufacture of printed antennas can more accurately adjust the electrical performance parameters and optimize the performance of the card.
The main technical parameters of RFID tags are: resonance frequency, Q value and impedance. In order to achieve optimum performance, all RFID tag manufacturing techniques can be achieved by varying the number of antenna turns, antenna size and wire diameter. Printed antenna technology can also be precisely adjusted to the desired target value by locally changing the width of the line, changing the thickness of the wafer layer, etc.
2. The shape of the coil can be arbitrarily changed in the manufacture of the printed antenna to meet the surface processing requirements of the user.
For the multi-purpose use of RFID cards and more and more personalized requirements, the printed antenna can be easily changed into any shape as required, such as object surfaces with different curvatures and angles to meet customer requirements without reducing any Use performance.
3. The printed antenna can use a variety of different card base materials.
The printed antenna can use different card body materials according to user requirements, in addition to PVC (polyvinyl chloride), PET-G (copolyester), PET (polyester), ABS (acrylonitrile-butadiene-benzene) can also be used ethylene copolymer), PC (polycarbonate) and paper-based materials, etc. If the winding technology is used, it is difficult to use materials such as PC to produce RFID tags suitable for harsh environmental conditions.
4. The manufacture of printed antennas is suitable for chip modules provided by various manufacturers.
With the widespread use of RFID tags, more and more IC chip manufacturers have joined the team to produce RFID chip modules. Due to the lack of a unified standard, the electrical performance parameters are also different, and the flexibility of the printed antenna structure can be matched with various chips and modules with different packaging forms to achieve the best performance.
Summarize
RFID (Radio Frequency IdenTIficaTIon) radio frequency identification technology has now become the focus of attention of various countries, and the basic components of its system include RFID electronic tags, RFID readers and antennas. Among them, the antenna is a device that receives or radiates the radio frequency signal power of the radio transceiver in the form of electromagnetic waves. In the RFID system, the antenna is divided into two types: tag antenna and reader antenna. The goal of the tag antenna is to transmit maximum energy into and out of the tag chip: when transmitting, it converts high-frequency current into electromagnetic waves; when receiving, it converts electromagnetic waves into high-frequency current.
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