Inkjet-printed, vertically-integrated, high-performance inductors and transformers on flexible LCP substrate

Vertically-integrated inkjet-printed inductors and transformers are demonstrated for the first time with high levels of performance and repeatability. The inductive components are fabricated using a well-characterized multi-layer inkjet printing process which is substrate independent and has been optimized for the fabrication of RF components. Printed spiral inductors with values of 10 nH and 25 nH are demonstrated with a maximum Q of over 20 at 1 GHz, which is the highest Q value reported to date for printed components, and a repeatability of within 5% between fabrication runs. Printed inductively coupled transformer-based baluns are also demonstrated which operate at 1.4 GHz with a maximum available gain of −1.7 dB.