Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an antenna device and a manufacturing method thereof and, more particularly to an antenna device suitable for NFC (Near Field Communication) system and a manufacturing method thereof.
Description of Related Art
In recent years, a mobile electronic apparatus such as a smartphone is provided with an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification, i.e., individual identification by radio waves) system and further provided with, as a communication means of the RFID, an antenna device for performing near field communication with a reader/writer. For example, a conventional antenna device described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2008-117944 has a base substrate made of a plastic film, an antenna coil formed on the base substrate, a metallic shield plate provided at a position overlapping the antenna coil in a planar view, and a magnetic core member provided between the antenna coil and metallic shield plate. Such an antenna device is accommodated in a casing of a mobile electronic apparatus such as a smartphone and is disposed on a surface of a battery pack or a surface of a printed circuit board.
However, recently, a reduction in thickness of the mobile electronic apparatus is highly required, and a further thickness reduction is required for the antenna device itself. Further, in a case where the antenna device is mounted on a surface of a heating element such as a battery pack, the base substrate may block heat radiation from the battery pack because the antenna coil is supported on the base substrate. Further, because the base substrate is made of a dielectric material, an inter-line capacitance of the antenna coil becomes large due to an intervention of the dielectric material between lines of the antenna coil, making it difficult to achieve frequency matching.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an antenna device having a very small thickness and having excellent heat radiation characteristics and excellent antenna characteristics, and a manufacturing method thereof.
To solve the above problems, an antenna device according to the present invention includes an antenna coil having a planar coil pattern, a magnetic sheet that covers one main surface of the antenna coil, and a resin layer provided on the other main surface of the antenna coil and along the coil pattern.
According to the present invention, the antenna coil is supported by the magnetic sheet, and a resin support film is not provided, whereby a reduction in thickness of the antenna device can be achieved. Further, the antenna coil is covered by the resin layer and, thus, the surface of the antenna coil can be protected thereby. Further, because the support film is not provided, heat radiation from the heating body is not blocked by the support film even when the antenna device is provided on the surface of the heating body. Further, the support film having a high dielectric constant is removed and absent, so that it is possible to solve the problem that it is difficult to achieve frequency matching of the antenna coil due to a large line capacitance of the coil by the support film.
In the present invention, the antenna coil is preferably bonded to one main surface of the magnetic sheet via an adhesive layer. According to this configuration, the antenna coil that has previously been formed on the support film can be transferred to the surface of the magnetic sheet, thus allowing the antenna coil to be reliably formed on the magnetic sheet.
In the present invention, the magnetic sheet is preferably provided so as to avoid an area overlapping an outer peripheral end and an inner peripheral end of the antenna coil in a planar view. With this configuration, it is possible to easily achieve electrical connection between the antenna coil and a communication circuit such as an NFC chip.
In the present invention, a metallic body is may positioned on the other main surface side of the magnetic sheet. According to this configuration, the magnetic sheet is interposed between the metallic body and the antenna coil, so that it is possible to reduce influence of the metallic body on the antenna coil.
In the present invention, a printed circuit board may be positioned on the other main surface side of the magnetic sheet. According to this configuration, a communication circuit can be constructed on the printed circuit board, facilitating electrical connection between the communication circuit and the antenna coil.
In the present invention, the resin layer preferably contains metal that acts as a catalyst when the antenna coil is formed by plating. According to this configuration, the antenna coil can be formed by plating on the surface of the resin layer. By bonding the formed antenna coil to the surface of the magnetic sheet, the antenna device according to the present invention can be easily manufactured.
The antenna device according to the present invention preferably further includes first and second contact plugs that penetrate the magnetic sheet to be connected respectively to the outer and inner peripheral ends of the antenna coil. According to this configuration, in a case where the communication circuit to be connected to the antenna coil is provided on the one main surface of the antenna coil, electrical connection between the communication circuit and the antenna coil can be reliably achieved by the first and second contact plugs.
In the antenna device according to the present invention, the outer and inner peripheral ends of the antenna coil may be exposed without being covered by the resin layer. According to this configuration, electrical connection between the communication circuit and the antenna coil can be easily and reliably achieved.
A manufacturing method according to the present invention is a method of manufacturing an antenna device including an antenna coil and a magnetic sheet, the method includes the steps of: forming, on a surface of a resin support film, a resin layer having the same planar shape as that of the antenna coil; forming, by plating, the antenna coil on a surface of the resin layer; forming the magnetic sheet on one main surface side of the antenna coil; and removing the support film from the resin layer.
According to the present invention, it is possible to manufacture, with ease and at low cost, an antenna device having a very small thickness and excellent in heat radiation characteristics and excellent antenna characteristics.
In the present invention, it is preferable that the resin layer contains a catalyst for electroless plating and that the step of forming the antenna coil by plating includes a step of forming, by electroless plating, a ground plating layer constituting the antenna coil on the surface of the resin layer and a step of making the ground plating layer grow by electrolytic plating. According to this configuration, it is possible to form the antenna coil on the surface of the support film and thereby to manufacture an antenna device having a very small thickness and excellent in antenna characteristics.
In the present invention, the step of forming the antenna coil by plating preferably includes a step of adhering the catalyst for electroless plating to the surface of the resin layer, a step of forming, by electroless plating, a ground plating layer constituting the antenna coil on the surface of the resin layer to which the catalyst has been adhered, and a step of making the ground plating layer grow by electrolytic plating. According to this configuration, it is possible to form the antenna coil on the surface of the support film and thereby to manufacture an antenna device having a very small thickness and excellent in antenna characteristics.
The manufacturing method according to the present invention preferably further includes a step of removing the resin layer that covers outer and inner peripheral ends of the antenna coil after removal of the support film. According to this configuration, electrical connection between the antenna coil and a communication circuit can be easily achieved.
As explained above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an antenna device having a very small thickness and having excellent heat radiation characteristics and excellent antenna characteristics and a manufacturing method thereof.
The above features and advantages of the present invention will be more apparent from the following description of certain preferred embodiments taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
As illustrated in
The antenna coil 10 is constituted of a substantially rectangular spiral pattern and is formed while depicting a loop as large as possible along the magnetic sheet 11 so as to make a size of an opening inside the spiral large. The antenna coil 10 is preferably made of Cu (copper) having high conductivity and advantageous in terms of workability and cost. A thickness of the antenna coil 10 is preferably in a range of 30 μm to 50 μm. Although details will be described later, an outer peripheral end 10c and an inner peripheral end 10d of the antenna coil 10 are connected to a communication circuit such as an NFC chip.
The magnetic sheet 11 provides a magnetic path of a magnetic flux that the antenna coil 10 generates and can be made from magnetic metal powder containing resin obtained by dispersing magnetic metal powder in a resin binder. As the magnetic metal powder, Permalloy (Fe—Ni alloy), Super Permalloy (Fe—Ni—Mo alloy), Sendust (Fe—Si—Al alloy), Fe—Si alloy, Fe—Co alloy, Fe—Cr alloy, Fe—Cr—Si alloy or the like can be used. As the resin binder, phenol resin, urea resin, melamine resin, polytetrafluoroethylene, polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, polyether sulfone, polyphenylene sulfide, PET (polyethylene terephthalate), PET (polybutylene terephthalate), polyarylate, silicone resin, diallyl phthalate, polyimide, or the like can be used.
For a reduction in thickness of the antenna device 1, a thickness of the magnetic sheet 11 is preferably as thin as possible within a range where function of the magnetic sheet 11 can be fulfilled. Specifically, the thickness of the magnetic sheet 11 is preferably in a range from 30 μm to 80 μm. The magnetic sheet 11 has contact holes 11c and 11d to expose therethrough the outer peripheral end 10c and the inner peripheral end 10d of the antenna coil 10. The outer peripheral end 10c and the inner peripheral end 10d of the antenna coil 10 are connected to contact plugs (not illustrated) embedded in the contact holes 11c and 11d, respectively and are electrically connected to a communication circuit (not illustrated) through the contact plugs penetrating the magnetic sheet 11.
The resin layer 12 may mechanically protects a surface of the antenna coil 10 and serves as a base film of the antenna coil 10 upon formation thereof. The resin layer 12 is made of, e.g., epoxy resin and preferably has a thickness of 1 μm to 5 μm. A planar shape of the resin layer 12 need not completely coincide with a planar shape of the antenna coil 10. For example, a part (particularly, outer peripheral end 10c and inner peripheral end 10d) of the surface of the antenna coil 10 may be exposed through a removed portion of the resin layer 12. Thus, it is only necessary for the resin layer 12 to be formed in a formation area of the antenna coil 10 in a planar view.
The resin layer 12 may contain a metal such as palladium that acts as a catalyst when the antenna coil 10 is formed by plating. In the case where the resin layer 12 does not contain such a metal and thus has insulating properties, the resin layer can serve as an insulating film that electrically protects the antenna coil 10.
First, as illustrated in
Then, as illustrated in
Then, as illustrated in
As illustrated in
In the antenna device 1 according to the present embodiment, although the antenna coil 10 is provided on the magnetic sheet 11, the resin support film 16 that supports the antenna coil 10 at its formation stage is not provided. A recent mobile electronic apparatus represented by a smartphone is required to be reduced in thickness to the limit and, in the present embodiment, the support film 16 is removed in the manufacturing process, so that the antenna device 1 can be reduced in thickness and weight by just those of the support film 16, leading to a reduction in thickness and weight of a mobile electronic apparatus such as a smartphone in which the antenna device is incorporated.
Further, the resin support film 16 is a dielectric body, so that if the support film 16 is brought into contact with the antenna coil 10, an inter-line capacitance of the antenna coil 10 becomes large. In frequency matching of the antenna device 1, a desired resonance frequency is set by adding a capacitance to an antenna circuit. However, if an original capacitance is very large due to a large inter-line capacitance, adjustment of a frequency made by addition of the capacitance is difficult. That is, it is difficult to achieve matching at a target frequency (e.g., 13.56 MHz) by adding the capacitance in frequency matching. However, when the support film 16 is not provided, the inter-line capacitance can be reduced, thereby facilitating antenna frequency matching.
As illustrated in
The battery pack 14 generates heat with charge and discharge of a battery. However, because the support film 16 is not provided in the antenna device 1, heat radiation from the battery pack 14 is not blocked by the resin support film 16. Thus, the antenna device 1 has high heat radiation performance.
Further, as illustrated in
Assume that a semiconductor IC chip 15c is mounted on the printed circuit board 15 and generates heat as illustrated in
As illustrated in
As described above, in the antenna device 1 according to the present embodiment, the antenna coil 10 is supported by the magnetic sheet 11, and the resin support film 16 is removed and absent, whereby a reduction in thickness of the antenna device can be achieved. Further, the support film 16 is removed and absent, so that heat radiation is not blocked by the support film 16 even when the antenna coil 10 is provided on the surface of a heating body such as the battery pack 14. Further, the support film 16 having a high dielectric constant is removed and absent, so that it is possible to solve the problem that it is difficult to achieve frequency matching due to a large line capacitance of the coil by the support film 16.
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
It is apparent that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, but may be modified and changed without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.
For example, although the antenna coil 10 is constituted by a spiral pattern with several turns in the above embodiments, the loop pattern may contain no turns. That is, the antenna coil 10 only needs to be a loop-shaped or a spiral-shaped planar coil pattern.
Further, in the above embodiments, the contact holes 11c and 11d are formed in the magnetic sheet 11 so that the contact holes 11c and 11d are provided in a limited range where they overlap pads of the respective outer peripheral end 10c and the inner peripheral end 10d of the antenna coil 10 in a planar view. Alternatively, however, the pads of the respective outer peripheral end 10c and the inner peripheral end 10d may be exposed together through one large contact hole. That is, in a configuration where the contact hole is formed on the magnetic sheet 11, the contact hole may be formed so as to overlap the outer peripheral end 10c and the inner peripheral end 10d in a planar view.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2014-105278 | May 2014 | JP | national |
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
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20100182144 | Yamashita | Jul 2010 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country |
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2008-117944 | May 2008 | JP |
201063006 | Mar 2010 | JP |
1020070113770 | Nov 2007 | KR |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20150340754 A1 | Nov 2015 | US |