Effects of laboratory-scale IC attachment methods on passive UHF RFID tag performance

This paper presents laboratory-scale methods for attaching integrated circuits (ICs) to passive ultra high frequency (UHF) radio frequency identification (RFID) antennas and discusses the effects of the attaching methods on tag performance. Commercial passive UHF RFID ICs were used. The studied attachment methods were strap attachment and direct IC attachment. One antenna design was developed for strap attachment where the IC was attached together with a strap, and two different antenna designs were developed for direct chip attachment. In addition, etched copper loop arm antennas for strap attachment and inkjet-printed loop arm antennas for direct chip attachment were studied. The measurement results show that the interconnection between the IC and the antenna is of paramount importance and that the performance of the tag is strongly dependent on the quality of the interconnection. The results of this study provide knowledge for reliable IC attachment in prototype laboratory conditions.