Parasitic capacitance modeling and measurements of conductive yarns for e-textile devices

Conductive yarns have emerged as a viable alternative to metallic wires in e-Textile devices, such as antennas, inductors, interconnects, and more, which are integral components of smart clothing applications. But the parasitic capacitance induced by their micro-structure has not been fully understood. This capacitance greatly affects device performance in high-frequency applications. We propose a lump-sum and turn-to-turn model of an air-core helical inductor constructed from conductive yarns, and systematically analyze and quantify the parasitic elements of conductive yarns. Using three commercial conductive yarns as examples, we compare the frequency response of copper-based and yarn-based inductors with identical structures to extract the parasitic capacitance. Our measurements show that the unit-length parasitic capacitance of commercial conductive yarns ranges from 1 fF/cm to 3 fF/cm, depending on the yarn’s microstructure. These measurements offer significant quantitative estimation of conductive yarn parasitic elements and provide valuable design and characterization guidelines for e-Textile devices.