Stretchable antennas

Abstract

This paper describes the manufacture and characterization of elastic antennas that are reversibly deformable and stretchable. The evaporation technique of depositing nanoscale thin (50/100nm) Au film on elastomer Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) has been developed for elastic antenna applications. A stretchable Planar Inverted-F Antenna (PIFA) based on the evaporation technology has been presented. The PIFA antenna can withstand 10% strain but gives a relatively poor efficiency. Another novel fabrication technology with comparatively thicker metal films has been developed. Stretchable metallic films can be produced by printing thick (200~400nm) silver films on PDMS. A dipole antenna is presented based on the printing technique and gives acceptable performance.