Possibilities of Fabricating Copper-based RFID Tags with Photonic-sintered Inkjet Printing and Thermal Transfer Printing

Abstract

This letter studies the possibilities of manufacturing copper-based passive ultrahigh frequency (UHF) radio frequency identification (RFID) tags using inkjet and thermal printing on two substrate materials, polyimide (Kapton), and a polyester-based substrate (Flexcon THERMLfilm). Both printing methods are tested to fabricate different tag designs, and the performance of successfully printed tags is evaluated using wireless measurements. Measurement results show that both printing methods, while using copper material, can be used to effectively fabricate passive UHF RFID tag antennas on selected substrates.