Printed Electronics (PE) as an enabling technology to realize flexible mass customized smart applications

Abstract

Printed Electronics (PE) involves additive deposition of functional materials on a substrate via printing processes to realize electronic circuits, interconnects, electrical components or devices. This methodology is opposite to the conventional microelectronics industry which is based on subtractive manufacturing techniques (e.g. etching). Some of the advantages of PE over conventional electronics are low prototyping costs, short time to market, less processing steps, etc. One of the features is the ability to manufacture flexible and customized products and devices. The applications of Printed Electronics apply to different sectors of industry like electronics, packaging, bio-medical, automotive, communication, etc. In this work, we present Aerosol Jet® Printing (AJ®P) and Screen Printing as two techniques for the realization of flexible and mass customized PE devices. Whereas the use of AJ®P is focused on rapid prototyping, Screen Printing allows to upscale for mass production. The two technologies are here implemented to realise conductive antennas on paper substrates, potentially to integrate into a delivery parcel box for the development of “smart packaging”. This antenna design is based on the 13.56 MHz working frequency, which lies in the frequency spectrum of HF RFID/NFC applications. The print quality, electrical resistance and the basic functional characterization (working frequency) of these paper-based antennas are here investigated and reported.