Study of Feasibility for 2D and 3D Innovative Jet Printed RF Devices

This work presents a radiofrequency (RF) performance review of a conductive ink dispensing process for RF applications. This innovative process allows to functionalize existing objects like plastic cases for adding a RF function. It can print devices on a substrate placed horizontally or in a tilted position. The main purpose of this work consists in showing the feasibility of this process. First, Coplanar transmission lines are printed with silver ink on horizontal substrate by a simple configuration. It exhibits a performant attenuation coefficient: alpha(4GHz)=0.021 +/- 0.007 dB/mm. In a second part, a 6-axis robot is used for improving the 3D process, coplanar transmission lines are also printed and exhibit a performant attenuation coefficient: alpha(4GHz)=0.060 +/- 0.009 dB/mm. Finally, coplanar lines are printed on tilted plastic substrate and then measured. The scattering parameters of horizontal and tilted substrates are similar and exhibit a good performance in the range of 0 to 4 GHz.