NFC

[MarkusSch]

Hi NXP, @Tomas_Parizek

My name is Markus Schneider.

Given your expertise in NFC controllers, I have a question about the design of NFC antennas, specifically the material used in these antennas.

Do you recommend NFC antennas made from an ITO layer, or is this not the best solution?
The PN5180 would probably be used as the controller.

[Tomas_Parizek]

Hello @MarkusSch , 

Thanks for reaching out! 

I would be very careful with the NFC antenna made with the help of the ITO technic. 

The main reason is that the NFC systems work with quite high power (1-2.5W). This requires an NFC antenna with a low resistance (Range of 1-2 Ohms for typical NFC antenna inductance of 1-2 uH).  

This is typically achieved by a proper antenna track width and copper thickness.  For NFC Readers ICs, we recommend the copper thickness 35um. My doubt regarding the ITO layer is that you cannot achieve such thickness and the resistance of the antenna will be far to high. 

This will degrade the NFC performance and  might lead to the issues with the overheating and even the antenna damage for full NFC power. 

But if you are able to achieve similar electrical parameters (R and L) as the standard NFC Antenna made on FR4 or FPC. Theoretically, You could also go with the ITO based antenna. 

BR

Tomas