Printed SAW transponder package for rapid prototyping of electronic packages

A great deal of attention has been attracted to the additive manufacturing technique of 3D printing in rapid prototyping of electronic packages. This technique enables fast and reliable production of complex structures with arbitrary configurations and possesses several advantages over the conventional manufacturing methods, such as mechanical machining and laser cutting. In addition, 3D printed packages can be considered as a try-out for the assessment of customized design prior to mass production, which will significantly reduce the expensive machining costs and material waste. This study proposes an innovative approach to construct simple radio frequency identification (RFID) package by integrating a surface acoustic wave (SAW) transponder in a 3D printed housing. On that account, an acrylate-type plastic SAW transponder housing was 3D-printed, and the corresponding wireless antenna and contact pads were produced via ink-jet printing with a silver nanoparticle (NP) ink. The proper functionality of the silver tracks was obtained by sintering the printed NPs using a photonic curing device. A flip-chip configuration has been pursued for connecting the chip pads to the corresponding pads on the housing. The performance of the package has been tested with a wireless reading unit via antenna-bridge for SAW transponders.