Low cost silver ink RFID tag antennas

We discuss silver ink as a low cost option for manufacturing RFID tags at ultra high frequencies (UHF). An analysis of two different RFID tag antennas, made from silver ink and from copper, is presented at UHF. The influence of each material on tag performance is discussed along with simulation results and measurement data which are in good agreement. It is observed that RFID tag performance depends both on material and on the shape of the antenna. For some classes of antennas, silver ink with higher conductivity performs as well as copper, which makes it an attractive low cost alternative material to copper for RFID tag antennas.