Comparative Study of Different Materials for High Frequency Tag Antenna for Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Applications

Abstract

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) system is an emerging technology for automatic identification, where it automatically identifies things between a stationary location and movable object. The antenna plays a crucial role for the performance of the RFID system, thus determining the appropriate material used for antenna is important. This paper presents a comparative study of different materials for passive high frequency (HF) tag antenna for RFID applications. Three materials are being utilized for three different fabrication methods which are Printed Circuit Board (PCB), Copper Tape, and Magnetic Wire. Every fabrication method has a variation of 5 turns and 7 turns for the coil antenna. The type of antenna being designed are planar rectangular coil and multilayer rectangular coil. The design undergone thorough simulation through Keysight Advance Design System (ADS). The fabricated designs are tested using RFID Reader and Digital Oscilloscope. An analysis and comparison of results were done and dictates that the received voltage is inversely proportional to the reading distance. the number of turns is also inversely proportional with the received voltage. Copper tape with 5 turns garners the highest received voltage at minimum distance, which is 904 mV. PCB is suited for moderate received voltage at minimum distance. Meanwhile, magnetic wire with 7 turns has the highest maximum reading distance of 11 cm and highest LED turn-on distance of 6 cm. Moreover, cost analysis of materials is being included to determine which material is most suitable for low-cost applications.