Effect of Preparation and Packaging Conditions on Performance of Fabric-based Screen-printing UHF RFID Tags

As a new type of flexible, textile electronic device, screen-printed RFID tags on fabrics have a significant potential in the high efficiency use and low-cost management of biomedical textiles. There however lacks in-depth research on the involved manufacturing technologies, where the geometrical properties of the fabric surface have an effect on ink printability and the continuity of the chip-antenna attachment interface. On the basis of the washing-mark fabric as the printing substrate, the UHF RFID tag antenna is printed by screen printing method, and the antenna is attached to the chip to fabricate the tag. The screen mesh, the silver content of conductive ink as well as the bonding temperature in chip-antenna bonding process are discussed to judge the printing and packaging quality. Finally, the performance of tags was characterized by the reading performance. The results showed that the antenna geometry printed by fabric screen with 300 meshes is more accurate and more stable in dimension than with 350 meshes screen. Furthermore, in terms of the basic requirements for the reading performance of tags, the conductive ink with 50% silver content is more economical than with 65% silver content. Moreover, heat pressing during bonding will shift the resonant frequency of the tag antenna, and the temperature should be consistent with conductive ink curing temperature, so that a good read of the performance of tags can be acquired.