Fully Inkjet Printed RF Inductors and Capacitors Using Polymer Dielectric and Silver Conductive Ink With Through Vias

Abstract

In this paper, fully inkjet printed multilayer capacitors and inductors are fabricated and characterized using poly 4-vinylphenol (PVP) ink as the dielectric layer and silver nanoparticle ink as the conductor. Inkjet printed through vias, created with a novel dissolving method are used to make RF structures in a multilayer inkjet printing process. The vias have been realized in a 350-nm PVP film and exhibit resistance better than 0.1 . Spiral inductors from 10 to 75 nH have been realized with maximum quality factors around five. The 10-nH inductor exhibits a self-resonant frequency slightly below 1 GHz. Metal-insulator-metal capacitors are realized with densities of 50 pF/mm 2 . These capacitors demonstrate values ranging from 16 to 50 pF. The 16-pF capacitor shows a self-resonant frequency over 1.5 GHz. The successful implementation of inductors and capacitors in an all inkjet printed multilayer process with vias is an important step toward fully inkjet-printed large area and flexible RF systems.

Robust Design of a Particle-Free Silver-Organo-Complex Ink with High Conductivity and Inkjet Stability for Flexible Electronics

“…35 More recently, meander inductors and fully printed inductors have been shown with Q's approaching five. 36,37 A 25 nH inductor with a Q approaching nine was also shown in 2014. 38 All of these printed inductors utilize nanoparticle ink as well as a sintering temperature greater than 150 0 C. In order to make repeatable, quality RF components by inkjet, a robust metal ink with high conductivity is required.…”

A Fully Inkjet-Printed 3-D Honeycomb-Inspired Patch Antenna

“…Another concern for 3D printing is the high dielectric loss of the materials. Some printed polymer materials have dissipation factors around 0.02 which is an order of magnitude worse compared to common microwave materials [18] [19]. In this paper, a 3D inkjet printing process is introduced which integrates both dielectric and conductor and solves the issues mentioned above.…”

Printed unmanned aerial vehicles using paper-based electroactive polymer actuators and organic ion gel transistors

“…Biodegradable substrates such as paper are especially interesting for disposable UAV systems. Most of the electrical components required for such a system have already been demonstrated on flexible substrates; these components include sensors, batteries, solar cells, transistors, passive components, and antennas [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17] . The key remaining piece is the realization of mechanical actuation with a form factor and weight that are suitable for UAV integration.…”