Thin RFID tag attaches to paper

Researchers in France have developed a way to deposit a thin aluminium RFID tag onto paper that not only reduces the amount of metal needed for the tag, but could open up RFID tagging to more systems, even allowing a single printed sheet or flyer to be tagged.

RFID tags are an alternative technology to printed barcodes, which provide an automatic means of delivering product data without direct contact between the tag, or transponder, and the reader device. Unlike barcodes, there is no requirement for the tag to be in the line of sight of the reader.

There are several techniques used to deposit an antenna: on PET - etching, electroplating; on paper - screen-printing, flexography and offset lithography.

Camille Ramade and colleagues at the University of Montpellier have demonstrated how a simple thermal evaporation process can deposit an aluminum coil antenna onto paper for use as an RFID tag. The researchers suggest that the approach would reduce the cost of RFID tagging to a fifth of current prices, which could represent significant savings for inventory users operating millions of RFID tags in their systems.

“Prototypes are functional and easily detected by the reader; the next step is to optimise the design for each family of RFID chips. [This is said to] improve performance while maintaining the same low-cost technology on paper,” the research team said.