The RFID market all around the world is saturated with cheap RFID tags. From an outside perspective, it is hard to solve the cheap vs premium RFID chips question since they seem to be the same.
Both have a small silicon chip with an aluminum antenna built into a thin sheet of plastic material. But when we talk about their performance in the real world, there is a vast gap.
A cheap RFID chip will have a short range of operation, high failure rates, and poor mechanical integrity. On the other hand, a high-end RFID tag provides a perfect range of operation and can withstand difficult environmental conditions.
Cheap vs Premium RFID Chips: Manufacturing Details that Separate Them
Here are the four critical manufacturing details that separate cheap RFID chips from premium ones.
- Antenna Etching Precision and Material Quality
The antenna is the biggest part of RFID tag construction. This component is designed to capture electromagnetic radiation from a reader and reflect back the information encoded on the chip. Hence, the manufacturing method of antenna determines the range and the frequency stability of this type of tag.
Cheap RFID tags are produced using printed conductive ink or stamped metal foils. Stamping and printing are rapid and cheap manufacturing techniques, but they are not precise enough.
The antenna is rarely smooth at the edges, and the thickness of the metal varies. This difference in material leads to variations in electrical resistance of the antenna. In this way, the tag gets out of frequency range, and standard RFID readers cannot catch it.
High-quality RFID manufacturers use complex chemical etching of metal foils made from highly pure aluminum, copper, or graphene. The chemical etching technique allows for obtaining extremely accurate antenna patterns with micron precision. The metal layer is equally thick in all tags produced. Therefore, all tags will work in the required frequency range.
- Chip-to-Antenna Bonding and IC Interconnect Methods
One of the most vulnerable parts of any RFID inlay is the junction point where the microscopic silicon IC bonds to the big metal antenna. The junction point needs to be robust enough to resist bending, pressure, and thermal expansion without breaking.
Manufacturers offering discount tags opt for cost-cutting approaches when using simple anisotropic conductive paste (ACP) or inexpensive conductive glues. They simply put the paste, drop the chip on top of the antenna, and put slight pressure on them.
Although this will establish an electric connection, it will not form a strong bond. The tag, if bent, stepped on, or heated up, the glue will degrade. The chip will detach from the antenna, resulting in immediate breakdown.
High-quality tags use complex flip-chip assembly or thermosonic wire bonding process. The silicon IC is attached with premium isotropic non-conductive paste along with gold or copper bumps that are bonded with the pads of the antenna through ultrasonic welding and heat. This forms a very robust electric and mechanical connection. High-quality tags withstand bending, high moisture content, and severe thermal cycling while being shipped.
- Silicon Wafer Quality and Integrated Circuit Architecture
The actual silicon chip, otherwise known as the IC, is where the memory banks reside along with the radio processing logic. However, not all silicon chips are equal. The manufacturing grade of the foundry affects the power efficiency of the chip greatly.
Low-end RFID tags use outdated, no-name or low-grade silicon chips. They have low power sensitivity. In RFID technology, because the tag is passive, it fully depends on the radio waves of energy provided by the reader for its activation.
The low-grade silicon needs much stronger radio signals to activate itself. It means that the reader should be closer to the tag in order to provide the chip with enough energy to start working. As a result, the operating range of the reading is shortened.
High-end RFID tags use premium silicon chips produced by top industry players like NXP, Impinj, or Alien Technology. The high-end chips are produced using the latest generation ultra-low power silicon technology. These chips have extremely high receiving sensitivity; they can be activated and provide data transmission using much less energy of the radio wave than the low-end chips.
- Substrate Layer Engineering and Protective Encapsulation
The RFID chip and antenna need to be attached to a substrate. It is the substrate and its adhesive layers that will determine the lifespan of the tag during its deployment in the field.
Low-quality tags have a simple structure consisting of a face sheet with cheap substrate, low-grade PET or paper, and a liner glued to it with a poor-quality adhesive. The adhesive layers are prone to delamination from the influence of moisture and UV rays. In a matter of a few weeks of exposure to humid warehouses or sun, the tag is exposed to water and short-circuits.
High-quality tags are constructed with several layers of substrate that are made of high-tensile stabilized PET, polyimide, or synthetic materials. The adhesives used for laminating the face sheet and liner are automotive or industrial-grade acrylic adhesives, which are resistant to moisture, temperature fluctuations, and chemicals. To protect the internal components of the tag, premium chips are encased in ABS plastic or silicone housings.
How to Test and Qualify RFID Quality
Trusting in just the specification sheet provided by the manufacturer can be a very expensive decision for a company. You need to perform certain simple tests before purchasing a large quantity of tags.
The first one is called a bending and stress test. Choose a random set of tags and run them through a label dispenser or bend them several times. Then try reading them before and after the test to see how many of them made it through. Inexpensive tags will have a high number of failed tests due to their poor chip-to-antenna bonding.
Next comes the test for the read consistency of a tag batch. Arrange fifty tags in a line and measure at what distance each of them can be read with your reader. The premium tags will have the same range for each tag in the batch. Inexpensive tags will differ greatly from one another, some will work at five meters while others fail at two.
Finally, perform an environmental soak test. Place the tags in water or a hot environment for 48 hours and see what happens. Premium engineered substrates will not be affected by the test at all, but cheap tags will suffer destruction.
Conclusion
Selecting premium RFID hardware over low-cost alternatives safeguards your operational efficiency and brand reputation. While cheap chips reduce initial expenses, their manufacturing shortcuts often result in erratic read ranges and high failure rates.
Prioritizing engineering quality over a low per-piece price ensures a smooth deployment that protects your bottom line. Talk to us for high-quality chips following undisputed standards.
