Metal/Polymer Based Stretchable Antenna for Constant Frequency Far-Field Communication in Wearable Electronics

• Published in: Advanced functional materials Vol. 25; no. 42; pp. 6565 - 6575
• Main Authors: Hussain, Aftab M., Ghaffar, Farhan A., Park, Sung I., Rogers, John A., Shamim, Atif, Hussain, Muhammad M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Blackwell Publishing Ltd 11.11.2015
• Subjects: antenna; ANTENNAS; Constants; Copper; ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS; Electronics; far-field communication; flexible; FREQUENCY; Human; Human body; POLYMERS; stretchable; Stretching; Wearable; wearable electronics
• ISSN: 1616-301X; 1616-3028
• DOI: 10.1002/adfm.201503277

Body integrated wearable electronics can be used for advanced health monitoring, security, and wellness. Due to the complex, asymmetric surface of human body and atypical motion such as stretching in elbow, finger joints, wrist, knee, ankle, etc. electronics integrated to body need to be physically flexible, conforming, and stretchable. In that context, state‐of‐the‐art electronics are unusable due to their bulky, rigid, and brittle framework. Therefore, it is critical to develop stretchable electronics which can physically stretch to absorb the strain associated with body movements. While research in stretchable electronics has started to gain momentum, a stretchable antenna which can perform far‐field communications and can operate at constant frequency, such that physical shape modulation will not compromise its functionality, is yet to be realized. Here, a stretchable antenna is shown, using a low‐cost metal (copper) on flexible polymeric platform, which functions at constant frequency of 2.45 GHz, for far‐field applications. While mounted on a stretchable fabric worn by a human subject, the fabricated antenna communicated at a distance of 80 m with 1.25 mW transmitted power. This work shows an integration strategy from compact antenna design to its practical experimentation for enhanced data communication capability in future generation wearable electronics. A flexible and stretchable antenna, enabled by out‐of‐plane stretching and fabricated using a low‐cost metal (copper), demonstrates constant frequency operation for far‐field communication—up to 80 m on a human arm at 1.25 mW transmission power.