Abstract
This paper proposes a microfluidic impedance tuner that is applied to a planar inverted-F antenna (PIFA). The proposed microfluidic impedance tuner is designed while using a simple double-stub and the impedance is changed by tuning the stub length. In this work, the stub length can be tuned by injecting a liquid metal alloy to the microfluidic channels. Initially, the PIFA operates at 900 MHz with impedance matching of 50 Ω. The impedance is mismatched when a hand is placed close to the antenna. The mismatched impedance is matched to 50 Ω by injecting the liquid metal alloy. The antenna is fabricated on the FR-4 substrate, and the impedance tuner is fabricated on polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). In order to inject the liquid metal alloy, a piezoelectric micropump and microprocessor are used in the measurement. At 900 MHz, the return loss is successfully tuned from 4.69 dB to 18.4 dB when a hand is placed 1 mm above the antenna.
Highlights
The presence of a mismatched impedance between circuits results in an overall degradation in circuit performance; impedance matching between circuits is the basis of high frequency electronics
We proposed a planar inverted-F antenna (PIFA) with the microfluidic impedance tuner
The proposed impedance tuner is based on double-stub matching circuit and microfluidic channel
Summary
The presence of a mismatched impedance between circuits results in an overall degradation in circuit performance; impedance matching between circuits is the basis of high frequency electronics. With the advances in the field of wireless communication systems, an increasing number of components are being incorporated in mobile handset design, reducing the space in which complex advanced antennas can be implemented into the handset To solve this problem, the use of an impedance tuner is one of the representative methods of matching the antenna impedance. We propose a microfluidic impedance tuner while using liquid metal as a switch. The proposed microfluidic impedance is inverted-F designed using a simple microfluidic impedance tuner is tested with atuner planar antenna (PIFA). The proposed microfluidic impedance tuner is designed using a simple the metal alloy to the microfluidic channels. PIFA with the proposed impedance tuner is designed impedance is changed by tuning the stub length.
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