Conductivity and radio frequency performance data for silver nanoparticle inks deposited via aerosol jet deposition and processed under varying conditions

Abstract In this work, microwave planar resonators are printed with silver nanoparticle inks using two printing technologies, inkjet printing and aerosol jet printing, on polyimide substrates. The microwave resonators used in this paper operate in the frequency band 5–21 GHz. The printing parameters, such as the number of printed layers of silver nanoparticle inks, drop spacing, and sintering time, were optimized to ensure repeatable and conductive test patterns. To improve the electrical conductivity of silver deposits, which are first dried using a hot plate or an oven, two complementary sintering methods are used: intense pulsed light (IPL) and laser sintering. This paper presents the results of different strategies for increasing the final quality factor of printed planar resonators and the trade-offs (sintering time versus final conductivity/unloaded Q) that can be reached. Improvement of the resonator unloaded quality factor (up to +55%) and of the equivalent electrical conductivity (up to 14.94 S/μm) at 14 GHz have been obtained thanks to these nonconventional sintering techniques. The total sintering durations of different combinations of sintering techniques (hot plate, oven, IPL, and laser) range from 960 to 90 min with a final conductivity from 14.94 to 7.1 S/μm at 14 GHz, respectively.

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Pico- to nanosecond pulsed laser-induced forward transfer (LIFT) of silver nanoparticle inks: a comparative study

Applied Physics A ◽

10.1007/s00339-019-3085-8 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 125 (12) ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

J. Mikšys ◽

G. Arutinov ◽

G. R. B. E. Römer

Keyword(s):

Surface Area ◽

Silver Nanoparticle ◽

Laser Fluence ◽

Printed Electronics ◽

Functional Materials ◽

Picosecond Laser ◽

Processing Parameters ◽

Nanosecond Laser ◽

Forward Transfer ◽

Nanoparticle Inks

Abstract Silver nanoparticle inks are among the key functional materials used in printed electronics. Depositing it by laser-induced forward transfer remains a challenging task because the non-linear rheological nature of these inks narrows the range of the laser processing parameters. Understanding, therefore, the influence of the laser parameters on the ejection dynamics and deposition quality is of critical importance. The influence of the laser pulse duration from pico- to nanosecond-laser-induced jet dynamics was investigated using time-resolved shadowgraphy imaging. Jet speed and surface area analyses showed that in the lower laser fluence level range, picosecond pulses induce higher surface area ejections which propagate at higher velocities. As the laser fluence levels were increased, the difference in jet velocity and surface area evolutions narrows. Deposition analysis showed a similar behavior with lower transfer thresholds and larger depositions at lower fluence range when picosecond-laser pulses were used.

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