RFID Resonator Coding via Selective Fluid Deposition and Etching
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing production methods for RFID resonators are costly and inefficient due to the need for individually masked wafers and the limitations of lithographic techniques, which require complex and expensive systems for producing small, unique code reflectors.
Innovation Solution
A device and method that form a basic structure on a carrier substrate using standard methods, followed by processing to create individually encoded read structures by selectively covering non-selected structures with a fluid and using embossing or etching to form depressions and elevations, allowing for cost-effective production of uniquely coded RFID components.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If lithographic methods are used to produce resonators individually, then each RFID chip can have its own unique code resonator, but the production cost increases and the process becomes more complex due to resolution limitations and the need for complex lithographic systems
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the resonator structure into two parts: a common basic structure that is identical for all resonators on a wafer, and an individual coding structure that is added separately to each resonator. This segmentation allows the basic structure to be produced using simple, inexpensive lithography, while the unique coding is achieved through a different method (application of coding material or selective modification), thus avoiding the need for complex lithographic systems while maintaining the uniqueness of each code resonator.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent produces the basic structure of all resonators in advance using standard lithographic methods before individual coding is applied. This preliminary action allows the complex individual coding step to be performed later using simpler methods, such as applying coding material or selective etching, rather than requiring complex lithography for each individual resonator.
2Manufacturing precision
If one mask is created per wafer to accommodate unique patterns at each chip position, then each RFID chip can have its own identification, but the production effort and cost become disproportionate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the identification process into a common basic structure that requires only one mask for the entire wafer, and an individual coding component that is added separately to each resonator. This eliminates the need to create a unique mask for each wafer, as the individual identification is achieved through the separately applied coding structure rather than through the mask itself.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses a single universal mask that can be applied to multiple wafers to produce the basic resonator structure. The individual identification is then achieved through a separate coding process that can be applied universally to all resonators using the same basic structure, making the mask production effort proportional to the basic structure only, not to each individual chip.
3Ease of manufacture
If the basic structure is produced using standard methods, then production becomes more cost-effective, but additional processing steps are required to form the individually encoded read structure
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the production process into two distinct phases: first, producing the common basic structure using simple, inexpensive standard methods; second, adding the individual coding structure through a separate, simpler process. This segmentation allows the use of cost-effective standard production methods for the bulk of the structure while adding individualization through a less complex secondary process.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach simplifies and reduces the cost of producing individually coded reading structures, enabling mass production of RFID chips with unique identifiers, and allows for the production of multiple coded resonators on a single substrate, enhancing the efficiency and affordability of RFID technology.
Implementation Method 1
application means for at least partially covering a non-selected residual quantity of the total quantity of the individual structures of each group with a fluid, in particular a polymer
Implementation Method 2
the structuring device, in particular as an embossing device, is designed to produce the individual structures alternately as depressions and, in particular, as elevations formed by the design of the depressions
Implementation Method 3
the processing device has reducing means, in particular acting by etching, for reducing, in particular uniformly, the thickness D1 of the basic structure, in particular at least by a height h of the depressions (of the carrier substrate)
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to a method for producing individually coded reading structures (11), in particular resonators for use in RFID chips, comprising a structuring unit for generating a base structure (2) having at least one group (2.1 to 2.n) of individual structures (4v, 4e) on a carrier substrate (3) and a processing unit for forming at least one individually coded reading structure (11) having reading elements (9) from a subset of a total amount of the individual structures (4v, 4e) of each group (2.1, 2.n). The invention further relates to a corresponding method and to a reading structure produced according to the described method and/or the described device.