Home // International Journal On Advances in Intelligent Systems, volume 10, numbers 3 and 4, 2017 // View article
Authors:
Martin Ungerer
Waldemar Spomer
Irene Wacker
Rasmus Schröder
Ulrich Gengenbach
Keywords: Inkjet-printing; silver nanoparticle ink; polyethylene terephthalate; sintering; ultramicrotome sectioning; imaging by scanning electron microscopy; cross section of conductive traces; microstructure; nanoparticle density.
Abstract:
The development of smart sensor systems, wearables or internet of things devices necessitates new fabrication technologies. The challenge is to meet requirements such as low-cost, flexibility, reproducibility and capability for large area fabrication. Fabricating conductive microstructures on polymer films by additive processes like inkjet printing has become increasingly important for these applications in the last decade. Additive processes are potentially more ecofriendly than conventional electronics fabrication processes but printing has still not reached wider implementation in industry. One of the potential reasons is the still insufficient reliability of printed components that must sustain electrical, thermal, mechanical and chemical stress. This reliability of printed products is influenced by a vast number of factors and process parameters. The impact of a certain parameter on the product’s reliability can so far not be defined precisely. Besides functional testing, the examination of cross sections of printed structures can lead to a more detailed understanding of their morphology and may entail information for the optimization of the fabrication process. Regarding the requirements, the nano- and microstructure of printed structures has to be analyzed. In the present work, a method is described for the investigation of nano- and microstructures of inkjet-printed conductive traces on polymer substrates by means of scanning electron microscopy of cross sections prepared by ultramicrotome sectioning.
Pages: 383 to 392
Copyright: Copyright (c) to authors, 2017. Used with permission.
Publication date: December 31, 2017
Published in: journal
ISSN: 1942-2679