Hardware

NFC Inlay

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A semi-finished NFC component consisting of an NFC chip bonded to an antenna, laminated between substrate layers. Inlays are the building blocks for NFC stickers, cards, and labels before final packaging.

    


    
    
    

      Also known as:
      
      NFC inlay
      
      inlay
      
      tag inlay
      
    

    
  


  




  
  

    
What Is an NFC Inlay?


An NFC inlay is a semi-finished component consisting of an NFC chip bonded to an NFC antenna, laminated between thin substrate layers (typically PET or PEN film). Inlays are the building blocks of NFC tag manufacturing — they are converted into finished stickers, labels, cards, wristbands, and embedded modules during final production.


Inlay Types






Type
Description
Typical Use






Dry inlay
Chip + antenna on bare substrate, no adhesive
Card manufacturing, lamination




Wet inlay
Chip + antenna with adhesive backing on liner
Sticker and label conversion






Manufacturing Process


    

  1. Antenna fabrication: Copper or aluminum traces are etched, wound, or printed onto a flexible substrate, tuned to resonate at 13.56 MHz.
    2. 

  2. Chip bonding: The NFC chip die (0.5-2 mm) is bonded to the antenna's connection pads using conductive adhesive or ultrasonic welding.
    3. 

  3. Lamination: A protective overlay is applied, creating a flat, durable inlay.
    4. 

  4. Testing: Every inlay is RF-tested for UID readability and read range performance.
    5. 



Standard Inlay Dimensions


    

  • Round: 13, 18, 25, 30 mm diameter (for stickers)
    • 

  • Rectangular: 44 x 18 mm, 50 x 30 mm (for labels)
    • 

  • Card-size: 85.6 x 54 mm (ISO/IEC 7810 ID-1)
    • 

  • Micro: 8 x 8 mm, 10 x 10 mm (for embedding)
    • 



Converting Inlays to Finished Products


    

  • Stickers: Wet inlay + printed face stock + die-cut
    • 

  • Cards: Dry inlay laminated between PVC/PET-G layers at 140-160 degrees Celsius
    • 

  • Wristbands: Inlay embedded in silicone, fabric, or Tyvek
    • 

  • Labels: Wet inlay integrated into printed barcode labels
    • 



Quality Considerations


Key metrics include bond reliability (must withstand bending and thermal cycling), RF performance consistency across the production batch, and data retention (10+ years). Most NFC vendors source inlays from specialized manufacturers (Smartrac/Avery Dennison, Paragon ID, HID Global) and perform conversion in-house.

  

  

  
  
  




  
  
Related Terms

  

  

    
    NFC Antenna
    
    NFC Chip (IC)
    
    Form Factor
    
    Bonding
    
    Wet Inlay
    
    Dry Inlay
    
    Converting
    
  





  

  
  

  
  

  
  
  

    
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Frequently Asked Questions


  

    
    

      
      

        
The NFC glossary is a comprehensive reference of technical terms, acronyms, and concepts used in Near Field Communication technology. It is designed for developers, product managers, and engineers who work with NFC and need clear definitions of terms like NDEF, APDU, anti-collision, and ISO 14443.

      

    

    
    

      
      

        
Each glossary term is cross-referenced with related NFC chips, standards, and other terms. For example, the term 'AES-128' links to chips that support AES encryption (NTAG 424 DNA, DESFire EV2/EV3), and the term 'ISO 14443' links to all chips compliant with that standard.

      

    

    
    

      
      

        
Yes. NFCFYI provides glossary definitions in 15 languages including English, Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Spanish, Portuguese, Hindi, Arabic, French, Russian, German, Turkish, Vietnamese, Indonesian, and Thai. Use the language selector in the header to switch languages.