3D inkjet printed radio frequency inductors and capacitors

Abstract

Inkjet printing has emerged as an ideal method for the fabrication of low cost and efficient electronic systems. However, most of the printed designs at present utilize 2D inkjet printing of metallic inks on conventional substrates. In order to have fully printed RF components, the substrate must also be printed. 3D printing of polymers can be an ideal mechanism for printing substrates, however typically such materials cannot handle high sintering temperatures (>150 0C) required for nanoparticles based metallic inks. In this work, an all-inkjet printed process is demonstrated that utilizes 3D inkjet printing of a UV-cured dielectric material in combination with the printing of a particle free conductive silver organo-complex (SOC) ink for realization of inductors and capacitors. The processing temperature does not exceed 80 °C and still state of the art conductivity of 1×107 S/m is achieved. Both the conductive ink and dielectric have roughness values under 500 nm. The inductor and capacitor exhibit quality factors of 8 and 20 respectively in the high MHz and GHz regime.