Next Generation Antennas Based on Screen-Printed and Transparent Silver Nanowire Films

The advent of mobile communication has made antennas omnipresent. Conventional methods of antenna manufacturing cannot address the growing demands for novel applications requiring transparent and flexible antennas. In this paper, transparent silver nanowire films are studied with respect to their high-frequency properties. Transparent silver nanowire (AgNW)-based antennas that are screen printed onto flexible polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrate are reported. Transparent films with a low sheet resistance of 8.5 omega sq(-1) and a high transmittance of 85%, at a wavelength of 550 nm, are characterized as bowtie antennas with a radiation efficiency of 52%. This combination of efficiency and transmittance rivals the ones that are commonly reported for conductive-oxide based transparent antennas and paves their use for any automobile window, liquid crystal display, or organic-light-emitting-diode display.