Influence of Microcracks on Silver/Polydimethylsiloxane-Based Flexible Microstrip Transmission Lines

Abstract

Microcrack is commonly seen as a defect in materials that affects the performance of flexible radio frequency (RF) devices. Here, we investigate the influence of microcracks on the RF characteristics of flexible microstrip by stretching flexible microstrip that is based on polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrate and an Ag microparticles/PDMS (AgMP/PDMS) composite conductor. The RF characteristics of the microstrip were monitored with a variety of tensile displacements. An equivalent circuit model of the microstrip with microcracks was proposed to reveal the mechanisms. The fitting results matched the actual measurement well. In addition, the morphology of the microcracks was characterized by SEM and the direct-current (DC) resistance was monitored. The results show that the changes in equivalent circuit element parameters (R, L, C) are due to the change in the conductive pathways, which affect the transmission and reflection of the RF signals.