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Manufacturing methods of stretchable liquid metal-based antenna

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Abstract

Stretchable electronics for wearable applications are a highly researched topic over the past decade in application areas such as health and fitness. The use of stretchable rather than rigid materials enables the device to conform to the human body allowing wireless sensor patches to be integrated into clothing or bonded to skin. However, to have a completely functional system, all the components need to be stretchable at the micro-scale and methods of making the components should be compatible with standard MEMS fabrication methods. This paper investigates the use of liquid metal as a stretchable conductor to be used as an antenna. Silicone-based elastomers were investigated to enhance elongation of the device. Methods of integrating the liquid metal with microfabricated devices were investigated along with corrosion of metal interconnects and liquid metal fill factor effects due to stretching using 3D X-ray imaging. Results demonstrated that a macro-scale monopole antenna was able to tune the frequency with an elongation of > 40%. Increased elongation affects the electrical resistance of the liquid metal and the resonant frequency of the antenna and should be accounted for in the circuit design. A new spiral shaped device was fabricated using Parylene-C with dispensed liquid metal which demonstrated complete filling and potential elongation up to 200%. This new thin film liquid metal device has excellent stretch ability, is microfabrication friendly, and has an excellent fill factor.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank all members of the SMART Laboratory group at University of New Mexico, as well as the Specialty Products and Services Centre and Wireless Sensor Network staff at Tyndall National Institute. The research leading to these results was funded by the Catalyst program at Tyndall National Institute, Cork Ireland. Aspects of this work have emanated in part from research supported in part by Science Foundation Ireland and is co-funded under the European Regional Development Fund, Grant number 13/RC/2077-CONNECT and SFI-16/RC/3918-CONFIRM.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mechanical Engineering Department, University of New Mexico, Center for High Technology Materials, 200 University Blvd, Albuquerque, NM, 87131, USA

    Nathan Jackson

  2. Tyndall National Institute, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland

    John Buckley & Frank Stam

  3. Janssen Biologics, Cork, Ireland

    Cian Clarke

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  1. Nathan Jackson
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  2. John Buckley
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  3. Cian Clarke
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  4. Frank Stam
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Correspondence to Nathan Jackson.

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Jackson, N., Buckley, J., Clarke, C. et al. Manufacturing methods of stretchable liquid metal-based antenna. Microsyst Technol 25, 3175–3184 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00542-018-4234-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00542-018-4234-2

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