Wideband Frequency Reconfigurable Patch Antenna With Switchable Slots Based on Liquid Metal and 3-D Printed Microfluidics

Song, Lingnan; Gao, Wuran; Chui, Chi On; Rahmat‐Samii, Y.

doi:10.1109/tap.2019.2902651

Cited by 93 publications

(59 citation statements)

References 22 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Substrate materials can be broadly grouped into two categories based on their flexibility, as depicted in Figure 1. In [38], Rogers/RT Duroid 5880 rigid material has been used as an antenna substrate together with a VeroClear based 3D-printed microfluidic encapsulation for the liquid metal. Here, RT Duroid 5880 is a printed circuit board (PCB)-like commercially available high-frequency laminate formed by polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) composites reinforced with glass microfibers while VeroClear is a commercially available acrylic-based rigid material used for 3D printing of optically clear structures.…”

Section: Substrate Materialsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The antenna fabricated using this method was highly flexible, as depicted in Figure 4b. Similarly, microfluidic channels for EGaIn were 3D printed using VeroClear substrate to form a patch antenna with switchable slots (PASS) [38]. Meanwhile, in [39], Visijet M3 Crystal, a commercially available photocurable resin, was 3D printed to form planar and helical antennas with EGaIn as the radiative element.…”

Section: Printingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Similarly, the flow of the EGaIn could be manipulated by flowing it through a meander line forming multiple slots. This was aimed to tune the antenna frequency from 2.12 to 3.46 GHz, as depicted in Figure 9 [38]. It is worth mentioning that the RF power handling capabilities of reconfigurable LM antennas was highly emphasized in literature without a proper discussion on its capabilities and limitations.…”

Section: Frequency Reconfigurable Antennasmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Liquid Metal Antennas: Materials, Fabrication and Applications

Paracha

Butt

Alghamdi

et al. 2019

Sensors

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This work reviews design aspects of liquid metal antennas and their corresponding applications. In the age of modern wireless communication technologies, adaptability and versatility have become highly attractive features of any communication device. Compared to traditional conductors like copper, the flow property and lack of elasticity limit of conductive fluids, makes them an ideal alternative for applications demanding mechanically flexible antennas. These fluidic properties also allow innovative antenna fabrication techniques like 3D printing, injecting, or spraying the conductive fluid on rigid/flexible substrates. Such fluids can also be easily manipulated to implement reconfigurability in liquid antennas using methods like micro pumping or electrochemically controlled capillary action as compared to traditional approaches like high-frequency switching. In this work, we discuss attributes of widely used conductive fluids, their novel patterning/fabrication techniques, and their corresponding state-of-the-art applications.Most of the conventional antennas are fabricated by etching the copper cladding on the rigid substrates to form static conductor shapes. Such antennas are highly efficient but suffer from irreversible structure deformation and even damage when being bent or stretched beyond certain limits [3]. As alternatives, several types of copper-coated polymer substrates such as Kapton, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and polyethylene naphthalate (PEN) films have been investigated to accommodate the need in flexible applications such as antennas. Similar to conventional substrates, the electrical properties of these substrates also degrade after severe bending/stretching, which in turn reduces antenna efficiency. Another option is polymer-based materials such as polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), which has been typically used in combination with copper foils to realize highly flexible antennas. However, the semi-rigid copper foils may potentially suffer from irreversible deformation after certain bending cycles. Alternatively, liquid metals can be injected into microfluidic channels to fabricate highly flexible and mechanically stable antennas without compromising their electrical properties [4].In [5], a broader review of fluidics-based tuning methods for the development of microwave components was presented. Although, this included a review of antennas based on dielectric/conductive fluids, it primarily covered flexible and frequency-tunable antenna/arrays and lacked depth on polarization/pattern reconfigurability techniques. Additionally, discussion of recent advancements in state-of-the-art liquid metal applications was also missing in [5]. In [6], a mini review of flexible and stretchable antennas based on textile materials was discussed. Here, the focus was on the benefits of conductive filler-based elastomers used in antennas for bio-integrated electronics applications and the trade-off between antenna stretchability and its performance. However, a detailed review of materials, novel fabrication te...

show abstract

Section: Substrate Materialsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Printingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Frequency Reconfigurable Antennasmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Liquid Metal Antennas: Materials, Fabrication and Applications

Paracha

Butt

Alghamdi

et al. 2019

Sensors

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Ullah et al in 2018 used also an artificial switch which forms the on‐off states for two different values of the resistance element . Another method for switching is provided by using the movement of the liquid material in the channels designed on the antenna …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…13 Another method for switching is provided by using the movement of the liquid material in the channels designed on the antenna. 14 When microstrip patch antennas are designed to be reconfigurable, they often require a lot of tuning effort after the design is finished. These problems are tried to be overcome by intuitive approaches such as loading slots or slits, providing stubs and so on in literature.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modeling and validation of a new reconfigurable patch antenna through equivalent lumped circuit‐based design for minimum tuning effort

Polat

Geyikoğlu

Çavuşoğlu

2020

Micro & Optical Tech Letters

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This study presents a modeling of a new reconfigurable patch antenna with equivalent lumped circuit. Instead of intuitive approaches, including structural changes used in the literature, the proposed reconfigurable antenna design is based on minimum tuning effort using only capacitance adjustments. The proposed design resolves impedance mismatch problem, which occurs due to the nature of using several frequencies by only capacitance adjustments rather than physical structure adjustments. Reconfigurable patch antenna for 2.45 GHz (Wi‐Fi), 3.6 GHz (Wi‐max and 5G), 5.4 GHz (WLAN and 5G) was considered for novel design strategy. A complete equivalent circuit model is configured and validated through AWR software. Full wave analysis of the proposed antenna is performed using CST software. A prototype of the proposed antenna is also fabricated on a FR4 substrate with the dimensions of 48.19 x 38.36 x 1.53 mm3 and measured to validate the full wave analysis and circuit theory solution results. It is shown that the equivalent circuit model, full wave analysis, and measurement results are in good agreement.

show abstract