Low cost inkjet-printing paper-based modules for RFID sensing and wireless applications

A very low cost substrate, paper makes one of the best substrate candidates for applications of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), wireless and ubiquitous sensing due to the fact that it is the lowest cost materials, is environmentally friendly and can be easily used for mass reel-to-reel processing while having good flexibility, minimal water absorption if treated with an appropriate coating and is suitable for fast printing processes such as direct write methodologies instead of the traditional metal etching techniques. In this paper, three modules are presented: a paper based wireless sensor module, a wifi antenna on paper via, and a paper based three dimensional RFID antennas. These modules prove paper and inkjet printing as a candidate for the first ultra low cost paper based wireless electronics.