Comparative Study of the Performances of Opaque and Transparent Patch Antennas

The performances of two microstrip patch antennas with low visual impact are presented in this paper and compared to an opaque solution. These consist in a copper film deposited on a Borofloat 33 glass substrate through a thin titanium gripping layer. The mesh is obtained by wet chemical etching. Antennas differ by the dimensions in the ground plane mesh pattern. The opaque antenna only consists of a full copper deposit. The transparency work was mainly carried out on the ground plane as it is the largest area available. Specific attention is paid to optical transparency in the visible light spectrum, sheet resistance and electromagnetic performances in the [2.8;3 GHz] bandwidth. They are measured in each case, compared and discussed. Both simulations and measurement results show good performance, especially the antenna with the most transparent ground plane: a high level of optical transparency of almost 73%, coupled with a sheet resistance of less than 0.028 Ohms/sq and a gain of about 3.22 dBi at 2.8 GHz, slightly higher than the gain of the reference opaque antenna of about 2.66 dBi at 2.99 GHz. The opaque reference antenna has a bandwidth of 1.30 GHz while those of the transparent antennas are about 1.60 GHz and 2.10 GHz (S11 < −10 dB). This solution presents a real interest for low cost integrated and discrete antenna solutions in ISM band.

Electrohydrodynamic lithography of metallic mesh for optically transparent flexible and conformal antennas

The optically transparent antenna is becoming a very attractive proposition for various applications, such as wearable devices and vehicle radars. The fabrication of transparent flexible/conformal antennas is a long-lasting interest in academia and industry.However, the preparation of radio-frequency radiators with excellent conductivity and optical transmittance is still quite challenging. Herein, we introduce a facile approach to directly fabricate optically transparent flexible and conformal coplanar waveguide-fed antennas using programmable electrohydrodynamic lithography. Metallic meshes with transmittance above 90%have been successfully created based on the conformal electrohydrodynamic printing of high-viscosity photoresist masks, and the corresponding sheet resistance can be tuned down to ~2 Ω/□. Then, the geometrical structure of the proposed transparent antenna has been systematically optimized because of the basic radio frequency components, including the radiator, feeder line,ground plane, and size of metallic meshes. Optically transparent flexible and conformal antennas are finally obtained, presenting an optical transmittance of 92% and 55%, respectively. The simulated and measured results demonstrate that the transparent antennas with a good optoelectronic performance indeed exhibit a nice electromagnetic behavior. We believe that this newly developed conformal electrohydrodynamic lithography method can be utilized to fabricate a variety of other transparent electronic devices, such as transparent electromagnetic shielding meshes on aircraft canopies, in the future.