A flexible and transparent pliers shaped antenna for ultra-wideband applications

Abstract Flexible transparent antennas have broad potential applications in wireless communication and RF energy harvesting, providing visualization, small size, and integration functions for electronic devices. The use of optically transparent materials is an essential direction in the development of flexible transparent antennas. In this paper, a flexible and transparent antenna is designed by indium tin oxide material and photolithography process, which is suitable for wideband communication field. The broadband characteristics of the antenna are realized by using irregular slots and rectangular microstrip lines on the ground plane. The antenna operates in the frequency range of 1.73–20 GHz with a relative bandwidth of 168%, which is suitable for ultra-wideband (UWB) applications. The antenna has a compact structure and the relative size of 0.33 λ 0 × 0.28 λ 0 . The measured results of the antenna are in good agreement with the simulated results, and the bending and folding tests show that the antenna has good mechanical flexibility and can cover the surface of irregular objects. This pliers-shaped antenna is applicable to a variety of UWB and wireless applications, such as LTE, Wi Max, 5G network, IoT, WIFI, mobile phone keys, and mobile payment.