Use of conductive ink in downhole electromagnetic antenna applications

A method comprising:

• exciting a transmitter of the downhole tool using a source, wherein the transmitter comprises conductive ink disposed on one or more insulating layers, wherein the one or more insulating layers are disposed on a surface of the downhole tool;
• receiving a signal associated with the excitation of the transmitter at a return of the downhole tool, wherein the return comprises conductive ink disposed on at least one of the one or more insulating layers;
• sending one or more measurement signals from at least one of one or more receivers to an information handling system;
• and
• adjusting a drilling operational parameter based, at least in part, on at least one of the one or more measurement signals and the received signal.

A wellbore drilling system for drilling in a subsurface earth formation, comprising:

• a downhole tool having an insulating layer;
• an electromagnetic antenna disposed on the insulating layer to electrically isolate the electromagnetic antenna from the downhole tool, wherein the electromagnetic antenna comprises conductive ink;
• and
• an information handling system coupled to the downhole tool, the information handling system comprises a processor and a memory coupled to the processor, the memory containing a set of instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:
• induce a formation current by an excitation from a source;
• receive a signal associated with the formation current;
• and
• determine one or more downhole parameters based, at least in part, on the received signal, wherein the one or more downhole parameters comprise at least one of a distance, direction, or orientation of a conductive target.