Rapid Metallization of Silver and Copper Nano Inks by Surface Wave Plasma Sintering

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Inkjet printing technique of nano-sized silver or copper particles currently has had lots of attention as an alternative to conventional lithography and etching process for electronic devices in view of reducing costs. The inkjet-printed nano inks normally require heat treatment which must be carried out under 200℃ for being electrically conductive on polymer substrates. However, the conventional heat treatment, i.e. radiation-conduction-convection heating is unfavorable to industrial implementation due to long sintering time. In this paper, we propose that surface wave plasma is effective for rapid metallization of silver or copper nano inks. Dense microstructure and low electrical resistivity of the spin-coated silver and copper films could be achieved by a short-time surface wave plasma heating under a reducing atmosphere. The inkjet-printed copper pattern on polyimide was also successfully sintered within two minutes with no deformation of the substrate. The apparent sintering density and electrical conductivity increased as sintering time increased and operation distance became closer. The electrical resistivity of the metalized silver and copper film was about 3uΩ.cm and 15uΩ.cm, respectively. These are similar values of the silver and copper films obtained by the conventionally heat treatment for longer time than surface wave plasma sintering.

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Journal: TechConnect Briefs
Volume: 2, Nanotechnology 2010: Electronics, Devices, Fabrication, MEMS, Fluidics and Computational
Published: June 21, 2010
Pages: 531 - 534
Industry sectors: Advanced Materials & Manufacturing | Sensors, MEMS, Electronics
Topic: Inkjet Design, Materials & Fabrication
ISBN: 978-1-4398-3402-2