Fabrication and characterization of CNT inductors on flexible plastic substrates

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A scalable and compact inductor is one of the critical components for passive radio (RF) frequency devices and sensors. CNT thin films have high yield strength and flexibility at high temperature. RF sensors made of CNT films on flexible substrates such as PET and Kapton could measure temperature, pressure and strain. All-organic passive sensors have unique applications. In this paper, we will report the fabrication and characterization of CNT inductors on flexible plastic substrates. The performance of CNT inductors will be compared with those of printed silver nano-particles. There are many factors that will affect the performance of CNT inductors, such as CNT raw material, printed method and post-processing. We will discuss the impacts of such parameters on inductor performance. Electrical resistance plays an important rule in inductor performance. The sheet resistance of our inductor made of printed nano-particle and SWCNT could reach 0.5 ohm/sq and less than 3 ohm/sq. The self-resonant peaks of the fabricated inductor fall into the range of 10-30 MHz. The fabricated inductors will be characterized by impedance analyzer and network analyzer. Preliminary results on temperature and strain sensing will be presented.

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Journal: TechConnect Briefs
Volume: 1, Nanotechnology 2012: Advanced Materials, CNTs, Particles, Films and Composites (Volume 1)
Published: June 18, 2012
Pages: 213 - 216
Industry sector: Advanced Materials & Manufacturing
Topic: Carbon Nano Structures & Devices
ISBN: 978-1-4665-6274-5