Microstrip antennas have the advantages of light weight, low profile, and conformal to the
attached surface with antenna feed line. This work presents the design of transparent microstrip
antennas by In2O3:Sn thin film on glass and polycarbonate substrates. The transparent conducting thin
films of 21–300nm thickness deposited by magnetron sputtering are measured by X-ray diffraction for
microstructure, 4-point probe for electrical resistance, and spectrometer for optical transmittance.
Analyses show that the 2.4GHz antenna can achieve 5.1 and 4.7 dB antenna gain on glass (1.2 mm)
and polycarbonate (0.7 mm) substrate, respectively. Experimental verification on glass substrate shows
that the antenna achieves 3.1 dB gain and 86% optical transmittance on 550nm wave length.
Relation:
Journal of the Society for Information Display 21(4), p.167-172
