Title :
Low-cost microfluidics-enabled tunable loop antenna using inkjet-printing technologies
Author :
Wenjing Su ; Cook, Benjamin S. ; Tentzeris, Manos M.
Author_Institution :
Sch. of Electr. & Comput. Eng., Georgia Inst. of Technol., Atlanta, GA, USA
Abstract :
A low-cost and disposable loop antenna is proposed, which consists of a microfluidics-enabled tunable square loop and a microfluidics-enabled tunable balun to guarantee a similar radiation pattern over a reconfigurable “liquid-controlled” frequency range. By inserting different fluids over partial sections of the loop and the balun, the proposed antenna can achieve a frequency range of 2.28 GHz for water filled channel to 2.45 GHz for empty channel. The proposed antenna is fabricated in a low-cost and non-cleanroom process by integrating inkjet-printing with laser-etching techniques. This antenna can be used as a fluid sensor for biomedical or chemical assay, as well as a tunable antenna for communication applications. The microfluidics-enabled tunable embedded balun can be applied independently as a wideband balun for various communication, sensing and biomonitoring applications.
Keywords :
UHF antennas; antenna radiation patterns; baluns; ink jet printing; laser beam etching; loop antennas; microfluidics; antenna radiation pattern; biomedical assay; chemical assay; fluid sensor; frequency 2.28 GHz to 2.45 GHz; inkjet-printing technology; laser etching technique; liquid-controlled frequency range; low-cost microfluidic-enabled tunable disposable loop antenna; microfluidic-enabled tunable balun; noncleanroom process; water filled channel; Antenna measurements; Antenna radiation patterns; Impedance matching; Permittivity; Resonant frequency; Sensors; additive manufacturing; inkjet printing; loop antenna; microfluidics; tunable antenna; tunable balun;
Conference_Titel :
Antennas and Propagation (EuCAP), 2015 9th European Conference on
Conference_Location :
Lisbon
