Foldable and Stretchable Liquid Metal Planar Inverted Cone Antenna

Cheng, Shi; Wu, Zhigang; Hallbjörner, Paul; Hjort, Klas; Rydberg, Anders

doi:10.1109/tap.2009.2024560

Cited by 142 publications

(84 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…It has been shown that using this approach it is possible to produce stretchable half wave dipole antennas and inverted cone antennas [4][5][6]. This approach to fabricate stretchable RF devices is low cost and highly scalable.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Electrically conductive silicone nano-composites for stretchable RF devices

Agar

Durden

Staiculescu

et al. 2011

2011 IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium

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-The objective of this paper is to show how stretchable conductive composites can be utilized for the fabrication of ultra-low cost stretchable RF devices. We show a method to produce biocompatible highly conductive stretchable silicone composites via an in-situ nanoparticle formation and sintering process. Furthermore, we develop a simple, low cost, processing technique to fabricate stretchable RF transmission lines. These RF transmission lines are highly flexible, stretchable and robust. The S-parameter measurements show stable performance during mechanical deformation up to 6 GHz. Future development of this technology will enable ultra low cost consumer RF devices serving as a platform for future stretchable electronic devices.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Electrically conductive silicone nano-composites for stretchable RF devices

Agar

Durden

Staiculescu

et al. 2011

2011 IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium

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“…Alternative methods focus on injection into channels, molding and printing for rapid manufacturing of highly conductive and stretchable metal networks but none of these patterning techniques offer high-resolution batch processing over large (wafer-scale) surface areas. [10] Based on these observations, we developed a new class of stretchable electronic conductors formed of biphasic solidliquid thin metal films. A bilayer metallization sequence starting with the sputtering of an alloying gold film followed by the thermal evaporation of liquid gallium (that displays a melting point of 29.8 °C [11] ) results in a heterogeneous film composed of clusters of the solid intermetallic alloy AuGa 2 and supercool liquid gallium forming a continuous network and dispersed bulges [11b,12] (Figure 1a-c).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Intrinsically Stretchable Biphasic (Solid–Liquid) Thin Metal Films

et al. 2016

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Liquid metals, encapsulated in soft materials, have therefore attracted much attention in recent years [2a,8] to manufacture soft conductors with metallic conductivity, high stretchability and reconfigurability. [9] Gallium-based alloys, rather than toxic mercury, are widely used. The high surface tension and the passivating oxide skin that spontaneously forms on the surface of these liquids hinder their patterning using conventional techniques. Alternative methods focus on injection into channels, molding and printing for rapid manufacturing of highly conductive and stretchable metal networks but none of these patterning techniques offer high-resolution batch processing over large (wafer-scale) surface areas. [10] Based on these observations, we developed a new class of stretchable electronic conductors formed of biphasic solidliquid thin metal films. A bilayer metallization sequence starting with the sputtering of an alloying gold film followed by the thermal evaporation of liquid gallium (that displays a melting point of 29.8 °C [11] ) results in a heterogeneous film composed of clusters of the solid intermetallic alloy AuGa 2 and supercool liquid gallium forming a continuous network and dispersed bulges [11b,12] (Figure 1a-c). We designed and engineered the biphasic metallic films to be compatible with large-area and standard microfabrication. Figure 1d,e shows examples of fine patterns produced at wafer scale on elastomeric substrates. Multilayered stretchable circuits can be readily integrated by covalently bonding membranes hosting patterned biphasic conductors connected through soft vias. Figure 1e displays a 4 × 4 wafer-sized hybrid array of surface mounted light emitting diodes interconnected with a two-level network of biphasic solid-liquid conductors. The array withstood demanding multiaxial inflation cycles, constantly delivering power to the optoelectronic devices (Movie S1, Supporting Information).To prepare the stretchable biphasic solid-liquid thin metal films, a two-step process was developed in which liquid gallium was evaporated on a substrate preliminarily coated with a wetting and alloying thin film. We selected poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS), a silicone, as the soft carrier substrate and a gold film sputtered on the PDMS as the alloying layer. However, our process is not limited to those materials ( Figure S1 and S2, Supporting Information). Non-noble metals may be used, provided the alloying thin film is not oxidized.The high surface tension of the liquid metal prevented the formation of an evaporated continuous liquid metal film on bare silicone substrates. Instead, the surface of the elastomer was covered with a nonconducting arrangement of liquid gallium microdroplets ( Figure S3, Supporting Information). In contrast, evaporating gallium on an alloying metal film, first deposited on the silicone surface, overcame the cohesive forces Stretchable conductors are the foundation of soft electronic circuits. [1] Manufacturing elastic wiring networks to distribute and carry electrical pote...

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“…However, all these previously mentioned studies deal with either low-frequency ICs or relatively simple interconnects. Stretchable electronics at radio frequencies remained an unexploited field until early 2009, at which time Cheng demonstrated the first stretchable fluidic antennas, for enabling wireless communication and remote sensing [23], [24]. Similar work was reported afterwards using EGaIn alloy as conductors for the antennas instead of Galinstan [25].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 84%

“…The concept of microfluidics based elastomeric electronics is then extended to realize a planar inverted cone antenna (PICA) for the ultrawideband (UWB) frequency range of 3.1-10.6 GHz [24]. The reason for choosing the PICA is that its impedance matching and radiation characteristics are expected to be insensitive to its mechanical deformation.…”

Section: Bendable Stretchable Fluidic Uwb Antennamentioning

confidence: 99%

Elastomeric Electronics: A Microfluidic Approach

Cheng¹

2012

Advanced Elastomers - Technology, Properties and Applications

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Foldable and Stretchable Liquid Metal Planar Inverted Cone Antenna

Cited by 142 publications

References 20 publications

Electrically conductive silicone nano-composites for stretchable RF devices

Electrically conductive silicone nano-composites for stretchable RF devices

Intrinsically Stretchable Biphasic (Solid–Liquid) Thin Metal Films

Elastomeric Electronics: A Microfluidic Approach

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