Abstract
Printing is a promising method for the large-scale, high-throughput, and low-cost fabrication of electronics. Specifically, the contact printing approach shows great potential for realizing high-performance electronics with aligned quasi-1D materials. Despite being known for more than a decade, reports on a precisely controlled system to carry out contact printing are rare and printed nanowires (NWs) suffer from issues such as location-to-location and batch-to-batch variations. To address this problem, we present here a novel design for a tailor-made contact printing system with highly accurate control of printing parameters (applied force: 0–6 N ± 0.3%, sliding velocity: 0–200 mm/s, sliding distance: 0–100 mm) to enable the uniform printing of nanowires (NWs) aligned along 93% of the large printed area (1 cm2). The system employs self-leveling platforms to achieve optimal alignment between substrates, whereas the fully automated process minimizes human-induced variation. The printing dynamics of the developed system are explored on both rigid and flexible substrates. The uniformity in printing is carefully examined by a series of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images and by fabricating a 5 × 5 array of NW-based photodetectors. This work will pave the way for the future realization of highly uniform, large-area electronics based on printed NWs.
Highlights
The rapidly increasing demand for realizing electronics in flexible and deformable form factors and over large areas is challenging to meet with conventional micro/ nanofabrication manufacturing techniques[1]
This study presents a well-controlled system for implementing contact printing, with a detailed report on the development of a custom-built system that implements the contact printing process
Concept The contact printing process relies on direct contact between the donor and receiver substrates, whereas the normal and shear forces between two substrates enable the transfer of functional materials from one substrate to the other substrate
Summary
The rapidly increasing demand for realizing electronics in flexible and deformable form factors and over large areas is challenging to meet with conventional micro/ nanofabrication manufacturing techniques[1]. This is due to the inherent limitations of conventional methods, which make them more suitable for realizing electronics on planar substrates. Fabrication methods that adapt to the needs of the new generation of high-performance flexible electronics while striving to achieve cost-effective highthroughput production are needed. To this end, printed electronic technologies have emerged as a promising alternative. Among the various developed printing methods, contact printing holds great promise for large-area, high-performance flexible electronics based on quasi-one-dimensional (quasi-1D)
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