Research on Fabrication Technology of Space Flexible Antenna Membrane Array

In recent years, the use of space flexible antennas has attracted more and more attention. However, the fabrication technology of large-area thin film antenna arrays still requires further research. Here we report exploration of key technologies for the preparation of thin-film flexible antennas. Using magnetron sputtering technology, copper films with metallic surface and different thicknesses were deposited on flexible substrates by adjusting the sputtering energy and strip tension and speed. By optimizing the ablation energy of etching femtosecond laser, the patterned array arrangement was realized without damaging the flexible substrate. We found that the modified polyimide has higher splicing strength and better resistance to a temperature at range of -100～100℃ compared with the commonly used 3M92 tape, so we believe that the former one has potential in splicing thin film arrays. In addition, the microstructure shows that femtosecond laser cutting can obtain a smoother section compared with nanosecond laser, and there are no burrs and ablations. Our results provide further understanding for the fabrication of space flexible antennas.