Transparent patch antenna using silver mesh electrode

Abstract

This study presents a transparent-patch antenna using a silver-mesh transparent electrode film with a high optical transmittance (87.7%), low haze (1.1%), and low sheet resistance (8.9 Ω/sq). The silver-mesh transparent electrode film is fabricated by using UV embossing and doctor blading without any high-temperature or vacuum processes. The UV resin pattern is transferred from a nickel mold to a plastic film, and then a silver paste is filled into the UV resin pattern. The transparent antenna patch and ground plane are obtained by repeating these processes on both sides of a single plastic film. The antenna patch is designed with a width of 44.8 mm and a height of 36.0 mm in order to obtain a resonant frequency at 2.45 GHz, which is a frequency of wireless LAN. As a result, the transparent-patch antenna has a reflection coefficient (S11 parameter) of -35.6 dB, a peak gain of -3.99 dBi, and a radiation efficiency of 6.2% at 2.45 GHz. Finally, a Wi-Fi router using the transparent-patch antenna is demonstrated. Copyright © 2018 The Korean Society for Precision Engineering.