Realization of RFID tag antenna with 3D printing technology

The use of three-dimensional (3D) printing technology for manufacturing complex-shaped objects with high accuracy has increased in recent years. In this paper, experimental work is carried out to study the feasibility of using 3D printing technology for realizing a tag antenna for Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) applications. The proposed tag antenna is designed for the North American RFID frequency band (902-928MHz). The antenna is 3D printed with dielectric, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) material, and it is post-processed using electroplating to make the antenna conductive. The performance of the manufactured antenna is measured and compared with simulations. Measurement results of antenna impedance show that the manufactured antenna exhibits higher electrical losses than predicted by simulations. In order to check the repeatability of the manufacturing process, two tags are developed by connecting an RFID chip to the fabricated antennas, and by comparing their power sensitivity and read range.