Liquid Metal Elastomer Based Coplanar Waveguide Transmission Line for Stretchable and Self‐Healing RF Electronics

Abstract

ABSTRACT Insulating and conductive self‐healing elastomers represent a high‐potential paradigm shift in the development of soft radio‐frequency (RF) electronics applications, such as coplanar waveguide (CWP) RF transmission lines. In this article, we present a novel stretchable, self‐healing CPW RF transmission line that uses self‐healing materials for both the substrate and the conductor. The used self‐healing liquid metal elastomer composite achieves a conductivity of approximately 2000 S cm −1 at zero strain. S‐parameter measurements of reflection ( S 11 ) and transmission ( S 21 ) were performed for the coplanar waveguide as the electrical length was uniaxially stretched up to 100%. The stretchable and self‐healing CPW RF transmission lines maintain remarkable consistency in transmission response at 1–6 GHz when mechanically stretched at 0%–50% for 1000 stretch‐release cycles. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first proof‐of‐concept demonstration of a fully self‐healing CPW transmission line, paving the way for durable and reconfigurable soft RF devices.