On using the electrical characteristics of graphene-based conductors for designing a conformal monopole on a transparent substrate

Conformal antennas printed on thin flexible substrates typically use copper conductors for the radiating portion of the designs. This paper presents an alternative to using copper conductors. More particularly, a novel compact monopole on a thin transparent substrate with 25 μm thick flexible graphene-based conductors for the radiating portion of the design is presented. The design was modeled in a full-wave simulation tool, and a prototype was manufactured and measured in a full anechoic chamber. Overall, it was shown that the S-parameter simulations agreed well with measurements and that the electrical benefits of the flexible graphene-based conductors could be used to design a useful conformal monopole.