Design and Fabrication of a Transparent Screen-Printed Decagonal Fractal Antenna Using Silver Nanoparticles

초록

This study presents a compact, wideband fractal antenna fabricated using silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) and screen-printing technology. The antenna consists of a decagonal monopole patch and a mesh ground plane, both printed on a transparent polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrate. The proposed antenna has a compact size of 18 x 16 x 0.55 mm3, achieved by stacking two PET layers joined using double-sided tape. The antenna covers both C- and X-bands, with measured optical transmittance of 68.1% and radiation efficiency of 72%. The simulated -10 dB bandwidth (without bending) spans 4-10.8 GHz and 11.2-12.5 GHz, while the measured -10 dB bandwidth is 3.8-11.2 GHz without bending, 3-11.4 GHz at 30 degrees bending, and 3-11.2 GHz at 45 degrees bending, confirming that there was stable performance under flexure. The conductive patterns were formed using silver nanoparticle paste with a sheet resistance of 0.2 Omega/sq, followed by annealing in a vacuum oven at 140 degrees C for 20 min. The proposed antenna was tested under 30 degrees and 45 degrees bending, and the measured S11 remained stable, confirming flexibility. The use of a flexible, optically transparent PET substrate enables installation on curved or see-through surfaces. Combining compact size, wideband performance, cost-effective fabrication, and optical transparency, the antenna demonstrates strong potential for application in X-band radar, C-band satellite communications, and S-band Wi-Fi.

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