A novel thick-film technique, gravure offset printing, for the realization of fine-line sensor structures

Abstract

Gravure offset printing is a novel thick-film printing technique which offers the possibility of printing conductor lines that are narrow compared with those obtained by screen-printing technology. Therefore by using gravure offset printing, denser electronic packaging and sensor structures are feasible. This paper reports the line width and thickness of conductors on alumina substrates produced by the gravure offset technique. As an application example, a multilayer pressure sensor structure consisting of 64 sensors, each 2×2 mm 2 in size, in a matrix is described. This structure is composed of two electrode layers with a piezoceramic layer between them. The narrowest line width of the electrodes is 50 μm. One of the most important benefits of this technique is that it offers the possibility of three-dimensional printing.