Flexible graphite antennas for plastic electronics

Abstract

In this paper we report on the simulation, fabrication, and characterization of planar graphite antennas on flexible polyimide (kapton) substrate, operating in the ISM band. The patch antennas are constructed from pyrolytic graphite sheets adhered to the flexible substrate, and designed to resonate at 2.4 GHz. Simulation and measurements show that the antenna is relatively immune to changes in impedance match induced by bending, although the gain is adversely affected by several dB. For the first time, single-port convex bending measurement is performed on these graphite antennas, revealing only minimal change in resonant frequency as the antenna is bent, and little to no memory effect from the induced curvature. We conclude by showing the possibility of fabrication of an all carbon-based RF receiver.