Au and Ag sputter deposition on printer paper

A Kaidatzis,V Psycharis,M U González Sagardoy,D Niarchos,J M García Martín

doi:10.1088/1742-6596/939/1/012032

A Kaidatzis, V Psycharis + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/939/1/012032

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Abstract

We study metal-coated paper for low cost sensor applications. Sputter deposition is used to coat commercially available stationary printer paper with Au or Ag thin films. Two kinds of substrates are used: copy paper and glossy photo paper. The surface morphology, coating structure and electrical resistivity of the samples is studied. We find that after deposition of a nominally 100 nm thick metal layer the templates retain their initial morphology, which is fibre-like at the copy paper and flake-like at the photo paper. The metal-coated paper is conductive in both cases, with resistivity a few times higher than the bulk value. The photo paper samples have lower resistivity than the copy paper ones. Moreover, no observable resistivity variation is observed after 8 weeks of room temperature storage in a desiccator.

Highlights

Paper is a low-cost, foldable, lightweight, environmentally-friendly material that can be fabricated at thin sheets, stackable, stored and transported; it is currently being investigated as substrate for inexpensive healthcare sensors fabrication [1, 2] and for foldable electronics applications [3, 4]
Au-coated copy paper is shown; its morphology is dominated by the highly-entangled cellulose fibers of the paper substrate, revealing the high porosity of copy paper
The surface is substantially smoother compared to the copy paper, with subμm flake-like features dominating its morphology

Summary

Introduction

Paper is a low-cost, foldable, lightweight, environmentally-friendly material that can be fabricated at thin sheets, stackable, stored and transported; it is currently being investigated as substrate for inexpensive healthcare sensors fabrication [1, 2] and for foldable electronics applications [3, 4]. 3. Results and discussion Figure 1 shows the surface morphology characterization as obtained by optical microscopy and AFM.

Results

Conclusion