Sprayed antenna on cans for WLAN‐RFID tags

A directly printed antenna onto a can body using copper conductive paint and suited for Radio Frequency Identification Wireless LAN (RFID-WLAN) tag applications is presented. The antenna unit is low-cost and compact, provide reasonable gain, and serve prospect RFID transponders with a range of IC impedances. The antenna is fabricated with dimensions of 0.18λ × 0.20λ × 3.61e-4λ and is relaxed from manufacturing. A design study has been carried out to assess the tuning of the characteristic impedance of the antenna. Return loss, load impedance, and radiation patterns are shown. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 55:773–775, 2013; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com. DOI: 10.1002/mop.27458