RFID antennas - pure copper antennas for RFID tags

Hanita Coatings has developed a proprietary manufacturing process for large-scale reel-to-reel
production of low cost RFID tag antennae based on copper. These antennae are fabricated using a semi-
additive process, in various thicknesses for both UHF and HF frequencies, precisely shaped according to
a pre-designed pattern specified by each customer.

RFID antennas developed by Hanita Coatings are cost-effective, manufactured by a fast, high volume
production process. Compared to traditional 18 micron laminated copper substrates, our proprietary
processes allow us to produce filmic substrates that are far thinner than competitive technologies and
do not require lamination. These RFID tag antennas provide the superior electromagnetic properties of
copper at price levels competitive with those of printed conductive inks or etched aluminum, hence
offering RFID tag inlay producers an opportunity to reduce costs without compromising on performance.

What benefits do Hanita’s RFID antennae provide?

Hanita Coatings copper antennas offer the following advantages:

High electromagnetic performance

Superior mechanical properties: flexibility, metal adhesion and overall durability

Adhesiveless construction

Very sharp line resolution

Improved adhesion of mounting adhesive to the substrate

Reduced undercut effect

Consistency of production quality

Competitive pricing

As an integral component of the tag, the antenna’s cost reflects directly on the price of the tag or label.
Since the wide scale deployment of RFID largely depends on final tag cost, low-priced components are
critical to success. Hanita Coatings’ high-performance antennas help provide the cost-effective solution
to low-price RFID tag production.
Hanita Coatings’ RFID antennas compared to alternative products:

Most RFID antennas on the market are produced by chemically etching Copper (Cu) or Aluminium (Al)
foils laminated to polyester (PET) films. The standard laminates films are 18 microns or 35 microns thick,
and their production process is very expensive, wasteful, slow and environmentally unfriendly. An
emerging competitive technology is the printing of antenna patterns with conductive ink, based on
pastes containing a high concentration of silver particles. This process is currently still very costly, and its
success is hindered by the low electrical conductivity of the inks, weak adhesion properties, lack of
printing accuracy, and by reported corrosion of the silver particles. To help overcome these problems,
Hanita manufactures heat stabilized PET films with a conductive ink receptive coating specifically to
improve markedly the adhesion of the conductive ink to the substrate, and to increase the dimensional
stability, durability and flexibility of the printed antenna.

What is the role of the antenna in a passive RFID tag?

Passive RFID labels or tags are the cheapest and most commonly used in the market. Like barcodes,
passive tags send unique encoded digital numbers back to the reader. The process starts by the
absorption of electromagnetic energy by the antenna, which is used to activate the electronic chip. After
activation, the chip modulates the backscattering reflectivity properties of the antenna, and as a result,
the reflected energy is returned to the reader as a binary code of information. This reflects the unique
number programmed in to the chip, identifying the specific labeled product. From this, we can see that
the metallic antenna has two roles:

To absorb enough electromagnetic energy to activate the chip

To be an efficient reflector for the electromagnetic radiation emitted by the reader