Screen-Printable Flexible Textile-Based Ultra-Broadband Millimeter-Wave DC-Blocking Transmission Lines based on Microstrip-Embedded Printed Capacitors
Screen-Printable Flexible Textile-Based Ultra-Broadband Millimeter-Wave DC-Blocking Transmission Lines based on Microstrip-Embedded Printed Capacitors
In this paper, a novel multi-layered microstrip line with built-in parallel-plate capacitors is proposed for DC-blocking applications, with its transmission characteristics measured up to 50 GHz. The microstrip lines are fabricated via screen printing directly onto polyurethane films laminated on standard textile substrates which would otherwise be unsuitable for printing. Compared to a standard microstrip line on the same substrate, the proposed 10 cm-long line on felt (with an embedded 44 pF capacitance) suffers from less than 0.1 dB higher insertion loss up to 4 GHz. Furthermore, varying the overlapping length of the lines and hence the capacitance enables the realization of DC blocking and -3 dB high-pass filtering with pass-bands starting between 88 MHz and 1.2 GHz. This is achieved without altering the cut-off frequency of the microstrip line's mode-free propagation, measured up to 50 GHz, exhibiting a low attenuation of 0.32 dB/mm at 50~GHz on a felt fabric substrate. Compared to a lumped capacitor, the proposed microstrip-embedded printed capacitor demonstrates a significant improvement in mechanical reliability, withstanding over 10,000 bending cycles, and RF power handling with under 6ºC temperature rise at 1 W. The lines are fabricated on two textile substrates and their transmission characteristics were measured up to 50 GHz, which represents the highest frequency characterization of textile-based lines to date, demonstrating a stable group delay and insertion losses. Based on the proposed multi-layered integration method, low-cost screen-printed microstrip-embedded capacitors on textiles can be used for microwave applications up to mmWave bands.
printed capacitor, RF capacitor, screen printed e-textiles, 5G e-textiles, millimeter wave capacitor, millimeter wave transmission line, microstrip line, printed microstrip line, printed silver, microwave capacitor, MIM capacitors, RF passives, DC blocking microstrip line, mmWave transmission, mmWave microstrip
Wagih, Mahmoud
7e7b16ba-0c64-4f95-bd3c-99064055f693
Komolafe, Abiodun
5e79fbab-38be-4a64-94d5-867a94690932
Hillier, Nicholas
6bde7893-a2db-4edd-9e12-a8ab17aa3702
1 January 2022
Wagih, Mahmoud
7e7b16ba-0c64-4f95-bd3c-99064055f693
Komolafe, Abiodun
5e79fbab-38be-4a64-94d5-867a94690932
Hillier, Nicholas
6bde7893-a2db-4edd-9e12-a8ab17aa3702
Wagih, Mahmoud, Komolafe, Abiodun and Hillier, Nicholas
(2022)
Screen-Printable Flexible Textile-Based Ultra-Broadband Millimeter-Wave DC-Blocking Transmission Lines based on Microstrip-Embedded Printed Capacitors.
IEEE Journal of Microwaves.
(doi:10.1109/JMW.2021.3126927).
Abstract
In this paper, a novel multi-layered microstrip line with built-in parallel-plate capacitors is proposed for DC-blocking applications, with its transmission characteristics measured up to 50 GHz. The microstrip lines are fabricated via screen printing directly onto polyurethane films laminated on standard textile substrates which would otherwise be unsuitable for printing. Compared to a standard microstrip line on the same substrate, the proposed 10 cm-long line on felt (with an embedded 44 pF capacitance) suffers from less than 0.1 dB higher insertion loss up to 4 GHz. Furthermore, varying the overlapping length of the lines and hence the capacitance enables the realization of DC blocking and -3 dB high-pass filtering with pass-bands starting between 88 MHz and 1.2 GHz. This is achieved without altering the cut-off frequency of the microstrip line's mode-free propagation, measured up to 50 GHz, exhibiting a low attenuation of 0.32 dB/mm at 50~GHz on a felt fabric substrate. Compared to a lumped capacitor, the proposed microstrip-embedded printed capacitor demonstrates a significant improvement in mechanical reliability, withstanding over 10,000 bending cycles, and RF power handling with under 6ºC temperature rise at 1 W. The lines are fabricated on two textile substrates and their transmission characteristics were measured up to 50 GHz, which represents the highest frequency characterization of textile-based lines to date, demonstrating a stable group delay and insertion losses. Based on the proposed multi-layered integration method, low-cost screen-printed microstrip-embedded capacitors on textiles can be used for microwave applications up to mmWave bands.
Text
Wagih21_JMicrow_DCBlocking_uStrip
- Accepted Manuscript
Text
Screen-Printable_Flexible_Textile-Based_Ultra-Broadband_Millimeter-Wave_DC-Blocking_Transmission_Lines_Based_on_Microstrip-Embedded_Printed_Capacitors
- Version of Record
More information
Accepted/In Press date: 8 November 2021
Published date: 1 January 2022
Keywords:
printed capacitor, RF capacitor, screen printed e-textiles, 5G e-textiles, millimeter wave capacitor, millimeter wave transmission line, microstrip line, printed microstrip line, printed silver, microwave capacitor, MIM capacitors, RF passives, DC blocking microstrip line, mmWave transmission, mmWave microstrip
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 452242
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/452242
ISSN: 2692-8388
PURE UUID: 8d6b961a-a668-4934-a872-e89a9252a7f7
Catalogue record
Date deposited: 01 Dec 2021 17:34
Last modified: 19 Apr 2024 01:59
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Contributors
Author:
Mahmoud Wagih
Author:
Abiodun Komolafe
Author:
Nicholas Hillier
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