Millimeter‐wave planar antenna on flexible polyethylene terephthalate substrate with water base silver nanoparticles conductive ink

Abstract

AbstractA 60 GHz, mm‐wave array antenna, mounted on a thin flexible polyethylene terephthalate substrate is presented. The proposed 16 8 microstrip series fed array antenna prototype used with laboratory made silver nanoparticles conductive ink used in inkjet technology. The main fabrication problem for this prototype is addressed via ink formulation for printing a homogeneous layer with an excellent electrical conductivity. In comparison to the previous millimeter‐wave series feed structures, the proposed antenna feed network conductive traces 50% is reduced. Silver base conductive ink is prepared in the laboratory with a viscosity of 9–12 cP and a surface tension of 27–32 mN/m for use in Fujifilm DMP‐2831 series. The realized design validate performances of 16‐element linear series sub‐array fed by a three‐stage T‐junction power‐divider network that achieves a 24 dBi gain is presented.